R.I.P. FEARnet

I saw this story yesterday on DEADLINE (04/15/2014) but didn't want to believe it and sadly it has now come to pass. Horror channel FEARnet is now no more. COMCAST has taken full control over the channel from its partners SONY and LIONSGATE  and is planning on folding the programming into COMCAST/NBC owned CHILLER and SYFY channels.

FEARnet was launched on Halloween in 2006 much to the delight of horror aficionados however had failed to really capture the market in recent years as they tried to compete in the TV world rather than just sticking to the Digital one.

Of the 25 staffers that FEARnet employs, 15 received their walking papers today.

We'll have to wait and see what --if anything-- the impact this has on the Horror genre when it comes to television. I'm figuring not much as Networks like AMC, HBO, and SHOWTIME look to be hitting the genre pretty regularly. Not to mention that NBC has as well set loose horror themed shows in their prime time markets.

Unfortunately, most cable providers still don't carry the CHILLER channel and SYFY has been thought of more as a joke when it comes to most of their horror.  

Paramount Says: Save the Date for Jason Voorhess!!!

Hockey mask wearing, machete wielding Jason Voorhees looks to be set loose once again on unsuspecting half naked 20-somethings as Paramount (who has finally wrangled back the rights to one the most well known horror movie franchises) is planning a reboot. And after the last debacle of a reboot I would say that it is much needed. That, and the fact that since New Line pretty much ran the well dry of sequels & story-lines for Jason which went from fun to just plain stupid by the end. However, there is a catch for Paramount on obtaining the rights, and that is that they only have 5 years to do something with it

On tap for the latest attempt to resurrect the franchise: David Bruckner. Bruckner you may know is of the V/H/S (the "Amateur Night" segment) alum and that of the 2007 sleeper, "The Signal". Although, it is still unclear where Bruckner plans to take the reboot. But rumor has it that [Bruckner] may employ the widely over used found footage format.

So save the date for Friday, May 13th, 2015 --thankfully the Hollywood retards finally figured out that the movie that has a date in it should be put out on the said date-- for that's the day Jason once again is set upon Big-Chested Betties and the dudes that need to die along with them. Unfortunately that doesn't mean it'll be any good. Especially after piss poor attempts that we have been made to sit through of other rebooted horror franchises.

Spirit Within -Horror Short Film for the Halloween Build Up

Poor, poor, Katie. While Katie is babysitting she is haunted by a demonic African statue --shades of "Trilogy of Terror" & "Black Devil Doll". Or is it that Katie's mind is just playing tricks on her. You Decide....

"A Cat in the Brain" My Eleventh Must See Pick for the Halloween Season

What is a Halloween season without an appearance of controversial Italian Gore Director (and who is considered the “Godfather” of the genre) Lucio Fulci? A sucky one, that is what! And today’s installment of my must sees is one Fulci’s most original works and probably one of his most insane and regrettably one of his last: “Nightmare Concert” aka “A Cat in the Brain”.

“A Cat in the Brain” is a “Meta-Style-Film” where Fulci plays himself as the main character of Dr. Lucio Fulci, a horror/splatter film director, who is not only tortured but driven by his violent visions. Fulci, feeling ever more like he might be losing his grip on reality with ever-increasing fantasies of murder and mayhem decides that it might be high time to see a psychotherapist. But unfortunately for Fulci, his new psychotherapist, Professor Egon Swharz, has something more sinister than treating Fucli’s bloody visions. More of something along the lines of stalking the famed director and using Fulci’s gory nightmares-esque movie death scenes for his own personal use. And in the end to try to pin his own wheel-of-mayhem upon the famed director.

A truly insane nightmare of sadism, carnage, and brutal lust that only can be delivered by the Godfather of Splatter himself!

Until next time…

It Truly Is A Profane World, Ruggero Deodato (“Cannibal Holocaust”) Returns to Horror in “THE PROFANE EXHIBIT“. Where There Are No Boundaries."

Oh, HELL Yeah!

Fearnet is reporting the return of Ruggero Deodato to the realm of horror. The name doesn’t ring a bell?… (novice… lol) Think back a hardcore horror flick from 1979 called: “Cannibal Holocaust”. AAhhh, now it does… lol.

Yes, “Cannibal Holocaust”, the movie that started the whole POV genre for horror films, and “NOT” “The Blair Witch Project” that gets all the claim-to-fame for it. Nope, sorry. “Cannibal” beat you by a couple of decades. Last time I saw good old Deodato he was playing a small part in “Hostel 2” as a client of the Elite Hunting pay-for-murder group who was happily eating large portions of flesh that he sliced from the legs of a terrified young man. A little wink and a nod to what put him on the map of horror.

Now, however, Deodato is back -in an extreme way of course- in an upcoming anthology called “The Profane Exhibit“ with a segment entitled: “Bridge.”

“The Profane Exhibit” takes us deep within the underbelly of Paris and to a nightclub that is the home of a secret, wicked society. At first glance the club looks like any other goth/fetish club, but, like an onion the more one peels away the more things hidden from view come to light. Hidden within the cavernous building are many hidden rooms, one of which is called “The Room of Souls,” which is where the world’s richest and most evil people like to gather and is hosted by the elegant and yet frightening Madame Sabatier.

For amusement, each of the members take turns and spins for the pleasure of the others a true tale of their depravity (think of it as a badass “CREEPSHOW“): A good wife learns that her husband goes out at night to abduct and murder young women; A botched suicide attempt leads to a drug induced dream; A girl is believed to be possessed by a demon and her overly religious parents enlist the help of a corrupt reverend who has his own sinister plans; We are invited inside the deranged mind of a respected surgeon as he takes us on a guided tour of life, death, and everything in between; A young street prostitute crosses paths with a charismatic flesh trader and is forced to take an unspeakable journey of sex, violence, and murder; A nun is abducted off the streets of Rome and held captive for over a year turning her into a feral, murderous creature to be unleashed on society; A chance encounter on a fateful bus ride for an unsuspecting girl who dreams of riches and fame is her undoing; A man picks up a woman in a nightclub and soon finds himself at the mercy of a cult of women who believe consumption of their sacrifice will bring them to their highest form of female dominance; An unflinching look into darkest Africa where human life is traded for fortune and the most unspeakable atrocities are committed.

In other words “The Profane Exhibit” is going to piss off most people… lol. I wonder how long it will take for this to find it’s way to American shores. Hopefully not too long because my interest is peaked.

Deodato will be joined by a roster of other internationally-known directors (and from the looks of it this lineup is all about pushing horror to it‘s limits and boundaries), that of which includes: Uwe Boll (Bloodrayne), Michael Todd Schneider (August Underground's Mordum), Ryan Nicholson (Live Feed), Andrey Iskanov (Philosophy of a Knife), Yoshihiro Nishimura (Tokyo Gore Police), and Richard Stanley (Hardware), and the Italian FX maestro Sergio Stivaletti (who has done FX for Dario Argento, Lamberto Bava, and Michele Soavi).

“The Profane Exhibit” is said to be in pre-production as we speak and is slated for a 2012 release.