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INSIDE OUR UNIVERSE by Galaxy

Hi friends and fans! Welcome back to another wonderful issue of SPO!LER!

We’re entering the end of October. Halloween is upon us and here at Spoiler this is our favorite time of year. It’s the time of year where Horror fandom reaches its absolute peak This year we’re ready for a dreamy Halloween Monday is the day; some might say it’s the most boring day of the week but to me it can be the best night to go out and party or trick or treat?

Halloween, like most holidays, is a time to have fun and carry on traditions. Fortunately, this year Halloween is back to what we are used to, but that doesn’t mean we have forgotten safety There’s one huge Halloween tradition we don’t ever have to miss out on and all you need is some good candy, scary movies, and hopefully someone to enjoy them with. This is always a special time of year, so to show how much we appreciate your support we had to treat our fans with a special edition fla shback Halloween issue.

This issue is nevertheless packed with content to feed your x during the spooky season. We highlight some of the best the horror genre has to offer across lm, TV, and even comics. We have re released our ever popular chat with Cassandra Peterson, aka Elvira

So, for all of you staying in and enjoying a movie night with friends and family let us be your guide to an unusual albeit kickass Halloween. Our team’s been working relentlessly to put out our best content and we promise it’s only going to keep getting better. We strive to be your #1 choice when it comes to fan magazines and we can’t wait to show you everything we’ve been working on Stick by us and we promise to do everything we can to keep you entertained and in the loop.

Also look forward to our issue next month, where we will celebrate with nominations for our inaugural SPO!LER Awards!

Please subscribe to us on our website and on our social media outlets for more news about the exciting things right around the corner! Thank you again for all your undying love and support!

Thank you once again for all your undying love and support. We couldn’t do this without you!

Love you all

By: Robert Napolitano

Some names are synonymous with Halloween movies.

Without characters like Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, or Freddy Krueger; filmmakers like Wes Craven, Tim Burton, or Rob Zombie; actors like Johnny Depp or Jamie Lee Curtis; or, of course, legendary authors like Stephen King, the Halloween/horror genre wouldn’t be as special as it is. The autumnal holiday is like Christmas to us weirdos, and since this year there won’t be much partying and trick-or-treating, we’ve compiled a list of classics for you to enjoy throughout the season. So without further ado, here are the 20 best movies you should watch this Halloween...

#20 -

the girl next door (2007)

We’re coming out the gate hot with this one. This isn’t set around Halloween, and it’s not your typical horror movie, but The Girl Next Door innocent young girl is mercilessly tortured by a sadistic woman and a group of kids. It’s told from the point of view of the one boy in the entire neighborhood who cares enough to help her, while the rest of the neighbors gets off on the brutality. There’s enough here to make the most hardcore horror fans cringe. But the worst/scariest part of it all is it’s based

GHOSTBUSTERS

This ‘80s hit features Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd at their absolute best. Though I have to admit, while I like this movie, I don’t LOVE it in the way many do, which is why it’s ranked so low. However, I’d be crazy to leave it off a list like this altogether. Side note: Compared to its pandering remake, this is the greatest movie ever made. This ghost-hunting comedy spawned a billion-dollar multimedia company which includes everything from an animated series to video games, and clothing and merchandise to haunted theme park rides. Whether you love this movie, hate it, or have never seen it at all, everybody knows the answer to “Who you gonna call?”

SAW (2004)

If you’re into movies about people being tortured, then this one is sure to be right up your alley. Mostly set in a single room and a budget in the ballpark of a cool mil, this movie quickly became a success story, turning into one of the biggest horror franchises of all time. Since 2004, it’s spawned six sequels, one prequel, and a spinoff Spiral, set to release at some point in 2021. All but one of those movies has grossed nine figures at the box office. Originally rated NC-17, creators James Wan and Leigh Whannell managed to work their way down to an R rating by the skin of their teeth. Perhaps it says a lot about us as a society that a franchise based purely on torture can become such a huge hit, but hopefully it’s more about how a lot of us just like being scared strictly for entertainment.

THE CRAFT (1996)

Every school has its outcasts, but at this school, our four outcasts are rumored to be witches. It starts out all fun and games, but as the movie goes on, these witches begin abusing their powers causing things to take a turn for the worst. Similar to movie shows just how cruel kids can be in high school. One girl is bullied for her ugly scars from a car accident, one for being poor and having an abusive stepfather, one for being the only black girl on the swim team, then there’s our protagonist, who’s bullied simply for being the new kid at school. These aren’t groundbreaking tropes, but they’re universally relatable and still relevant to this day. Supernatural films set in high school have become a little bit of a cliche, but this is one of the few that did it right.

SLEEPY HOLLOW (1999)

Like I said, few people do Halloween quite like Johnny Depp and Tim Burton. This is a special dynamic duo, and with this film, their chemistry is put on full display. Burton’s gothic style is so unique that you could watch his films on mute and, just by the aesthetics and set design alone, be able tell it apart from any other director’s. Throw in an actor like Depp, who always gets lost in his characters, and you end up with something amazing. Any project they’ve done together makes for great Halloween fodder, but none do it better than this. Based on the Washington Irving short story from 1820, this horror movie is definitely more fun than it is scary.

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (2003)

Look, if you prefer the 1974 original, I totally get it. I’m the type of movie buff who rarely prefers a remake over the original, but I have to admit this is one of those times I give the nod to the remake. Maybe it’s because of how much scarier the murder scenes are, or maybe it’s simply because of Jessica Biel. Either way, this is the cream of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre crop in my eyes. As a kid at the time, this one scared the living hell out of me, but I loved it anyway. There were four TCM movies prior to this one, and three since, but aside from the original, none of them are even in the same ballpark. It’s only right that a Jason movie comes in at number 13 on our list. There have been twelve Friday the 13th films so far (including Freddy vs. Jason), and to be honest, this is by far the only one that does justice to the man, the monster, the legend, Jason Voorhees. When we picture Jason, he’s the hockey maskwearing, machete-wielding zombie that can’t be stopped. That’s the bad ass Jason we all know and love, but few films in this series really lock into

HOCUS POCUS (1993)

If you were the type of kid in the ‘90s/’00s who grew up on the Disney Channel, then you know this one is a classic. As kids, this was THE Halloween movie. To this day, the Sanderson sisters are some of the best witches in film history. Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker play their roles so charismatically that they steal the movie...as the villains. We will likely never get the sequel fans have been wanting for nearly 30 years now, but every year a new wave of kids see it for the first time, proving that it holds up just as well today as it did back in ‘93. If you’ve never seen this one, you might not feel the same nostalgia us millennials do, but anybody who loves Halloween should enjoy the seasonal spirit oozing out of every scene. that essence. The earlier installments weren’t quite there yet, and the later ones are either so formulaic or terribly bizarre that we can’t take them seriously.

In case you’re unaware, Jason has taken over Manhattan, ruled outer space, and gone to hell. If done properly, when we inevitably get a 13th installment, there’s plenty of potential to be the best one yet, but until then, this movie holds that title.

SCREAM 2 (1997)

The Godfather 2 of horror films? Maybe that’s excessive, but there are a small minority of sequels that are this good that they give the original a run for its money. When a movie as financially successful as the first Scream comes about, it’s extremely rare that it’s not followed by a sequel. Sometimes they’re good, but often they’re not. One of the reasons this sequel works so well is because of how well it pokes fun at itself and how it takes the metafiction to a whole new level. In this one, Sidney Prescott’s life from the first film becomes a hit movie. Now everybody knows her identity, making it easier for someone to be a copycat Ghostface killer. Obviously if you’ve seen it a half-dozen times like myself, you see where it’s going, but the frequent self-parody makes the experience enduring.

E.T. THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL (1982)

I’m pretty sure every single person reading this has seen E.T. at some point in their life. When you were a kid, your parents probably threw in the VHS tape knowing it would keep you entertained for a couple hours. There’s so much to love about this movie, from Spielberg’s direction to Elliot’s innocent relationship with E.T. to an adorable young Drew Barrymore. It’s been nearly 40 years since the film debuted, and to this day, if it’s not the most popular movie involving an alien, it’s pretty damn close. The alien in this one plays a friend rather than a monster.

If you’re a parent who can’t take your kid trick-or-treating this year, go stock up on Reese’s Pieces and start your family movie night off right with some E.T.

HALLOWEEN (2007)

I find this to be, by far, the most underrated of the entire Halloween series. A lot of fans say the scariest part of Michael Myers is that, in the originals, we know almost nothing about him other than the fact that he’s a raging psychopath with a thirst to kill. Rob Zombie took that psychopath, gave him an origin story, and even went as far as making him a character you can sympathize with at times. When it comes to remakes, especially of all-time classics, a re-imagining is the best approach. We’ve seen the original, we know what happens, and if we wanted to see it again, we’d just watch that one. Most of us went into the theaters to see what Zombie’s crazy imagination could bring to the table, and what he concocted was a version much different than the rest. There have been ten other Halloween movies and this one can go toe-to-toe with them all.

GET OUT (2017)

Few filmmakers have the cojones to tackle racism the way Jordan Peele did in his directorial debut. Prior to his 2017 horror hit, Peele was known for his hilarious sketch comedy, but this took his career to another level that nobody really saw coming. Get Out is thought-provoking, clever, funny at times, and most of all, it’s scary in a real way. If you’re an African American man watching this movie, it probably hit home in a way no film has before. Not only was it a box office success and an Oscar winner, but it quickly became a pop culture phenomenon. People refer to the “sunken place” like it really exists. And if you talk to Jordan Peele fanatics, they might convince you that it does. Only a few years old, Get Out is an instant horror classic and the themes are as relevant as they get.

THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)

Arguably the best film on this list in terms of quality, The Silence of the Lambs is only so low because it’s more thriller than horror, and not necessarily one of the first movies you think of when talking about Halloween. Anthony Hopkins won a much-deserved Oscar for his brief performance, and it’s easy to see why. Despite a fantastic script by Ted Tally, knockout direction by Jonathan Demme, and an excellent leading actress in Jodie Foster, it’s Hopkins’ portrayal of Doctor Hannibal Lecter that steals the show. Quite possibly the best film ever made about serial killers, this monster doesn’t need a scary mask or big, sharp weapons to strike fear in the audience.

THE SIXTH SENSE (1999)

The Sixth Sense probably doesn’t remind you of Halloween at first thought, and it’s definitely more of a psychological thriller than it is horror, but if a little boy who sees ghosts doesn’t fit our criteria, then I don’t know what will. People might pretend they saw the twist coming, but don’t buy it. The final twist sent shock waves into the audience when it first came out and helped make M. Night Shyamalan a household name. We’ve now almost come to expect a twist at the end of his films. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, but he’s proven time and time again how talented he is as a filmmaker, and this was our first real glimpse.

IT (2017)

This long-awaited remake surpassed all the hype and expectations that surrounded it.

If you’re old school and prefer the original miniseries, I totally get it. The 1990 original was awesome, but you can’t argue that visually, it doesn’t even compare. If you watch the miniseries today, you’ll likely laugh at its corniness, even though it scared the hell out of people at the time. I’d argue the new version is actually less terrifying because it’s mostly just jump scares, and this Pennywise isn’t nearly as believable as a real clown, which was played by Tim Curry. Although, in all fairness, Pennywise isn’t supposed to be real. In the book, he’s a nightmarish fantasy, which better suits the updated version. But what really sets the remake apart from its predecessor is the comedic performance put on by its young cast.

-

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984)

The ‘80s was the decade of slashers. Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees set the trend early on, but dozens of knockoffs were being released left and right. Slashers were hot, cheap to make, and brought in the big bucks, so of course studios were gonna churn them out until the well ran dry. And it was sure running dry. That is, until 1984 when Wes Craven introduced Freddy Krueger to the world. There are a few things that separate Freddy from all those other big, bad, teen-chasing serial killers. You can run and, if you’re lucky, get away from murderers in every day life, but at some point, we all have to sleep. That’s very bad news for anyone who lived on Elm Street back in the day, because it’s in their sleep where they would encounter the man with knives for fingers. Aside from the unique dream element, Freddy Krueger, and the actor who played him, Robert Englund, brought something that audiences weren’t used to seeing from a serial killer: humor. He wasn’t silent like so many other movie monsters. He was clever, witty, and so damn good in that role that the genre was never the same again.

- SCREAM (1996)

Scream is the epitome of teen horror. If there’s one film on this list that’s sure to stir up feelings of ‘90s nostalgia, this is it. Every so often, we’ll get a genre movie that comes out and reinvents the wheel. In 1996, director Wes Craven was already known in the horror world for hits such as The Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes, Swamp Thing, and of course, A Nightmare on Elm Street. But with Scream, he topped them all with its metafiction and astute analysis of horror conventions. Within 5 years, it spawned two sequels, and influenced dozens of other movies of its era, both horror and otherwise. Parodies like the Scary Movie franchise and successful second-rate versions like I Know What You Did Last Summer and Urban Legend would never have made the same impact if not for their progenitor.

DONNIE DARKO (2001)

To some, this is a film that makes no sense at all. To others, it’s one of the greatest ever made. It’s the type of movie you have to watch twice to understand, and even then, you might not be able to completely wrap your head around it. This indie hit features time travel, schizophrenia, Halloween, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Drew Barrymore, all punctuated by its suburban high school backdrop. There are so many awesome small roles, featuring the likes of Patrick Swayze, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, and Seth Rogen, that help make the movie what it is. Taking place throughout the month of October, leading up to a Halloween party and quite a controversial ending, I can’t express enough how much I love this movie and how much fun it is to watch, especially this time of year. However, out of respect for the holiday and what it means to the horror genre, there’s one film that reaches the top of this list, even more than this one.

HALLOWEEN (1978)

Could any other movie really be #1?

It’s literally the ultimate Halloween movie and the one that defines the slasher sub-genre best. Just like Scream accomplished, only 20 years earlier, this film revolutionized the genre to where even Ghostface wouldn’t exist if not for Michael Myers. Is he human? Is he superhuman? How can you be sure?

He’s the ultimate serial killer and he only comes around this one special time of year. We are now 11 Halloween films deep, including the third installment (the only one without Myers), and we still haven’t had enough because this time next year Halloween Kills is set to hit theaters, with Halloween Ends to follow in 2022. Of all the horror franchises out there that churn out sequel after remake after is not only in the running for most successful and most beloved, but for obvious reasons, it’s undeniably the most synonymous with the holiday.

INTERVIEW BY GALAXY INTRO BY ETHAN BREHM

IF YOU WERE A HORROR FAN IN THE ‘80s

in Los Angeles, then Movie Macabre was must-watch television. Many of us would force ourselves to stay up a little later to catch the local horror host give her comedic, oft-innuendo-ladened, commentary on bad films.

The host, Elvira, is the alter ego of Cassandra Peterson, who came up as a member of the improv comedy troupe, The Groundlings with a quick wit that allowed her to have a hand in writing the jokes and bits seen on air throughout the run of Movie Macabre. Elvira’s goth/Valley girl persona, accompanying her ravenblack beehive hairdo and gratuitous cleavage, graced the airwaves with her late night program where she would interrupt B-grade horror movies with her sarcastic and campy quips.

Taking over for the late Larry Vincent’s character, Sinister Seymour, several years after his death, Peterson would build on Vincent’s off-beat humor by adding more of a flippant edge, thus making it her own and eventually becoming a household name.

Elvira subverted our expectations by looking spooky while sounding like a total Valley girl. To take things one step further, she broke another stereotype by the intelligence and overall awareness she exuded underneath her intentionally-misleading demeanor. What truly sets Elvira apart from the rest of the pack is her comedic genius, which is just as impossible to miss as her skin-tight wardrobe.

While hosting a locally-based television program, Elvira’s popularity quickly skyrocketed on a national level following a string of Tonight

Show appearances and Coors Light commercials, which introduced her to millions of viewers across the country.

The people just wanted more.

One of very few celebrities who actually has full creative control and ownership of her persona, Peterson has made the most of the property.

Over the years, there have been Elvira movies, comics, video games, even pinball machines, and much, much more. Where other celebrities try desperately to break away from their most famous roles, Peterson eventually embraced her alter ego and has become an entrepreneurial paradigm for how to successfully market your brand.

Her 1988 film Elvira: Mistress of the Dark expanded on the character and gave Elvira a more three-dimensional depiction outside of her TV show. Released during a time when “spooky” comedies weren’t as prevalent in Hollywood and the formula wasn’t yet established, the film played by its own rules—perfectly in line with her late night show—as an amalgamation of different, yet kindred styles, and has now become an amazing snapshot of the era’s iconography and sensibilities. The icon sits down with Spoiler for an amazing interview to talk about her career, the upcoming holiday, and what’s on the horizon for the Hostess with the Mostest.

After nearly 40 years of portraying Elvira, Peterson will be staying at home on Halloween this year, much like the rest of us, due to the current pandemic. But that doesn’t mean her spirits aren’t high. The opportunist she is, Peterson is making the most of the situation and has some creative ideas in mind to help us all get through this season unscathed. Peterson will be the first to tell you that Elvira isn’t the same without Halloween. But to be honest, Halloween wouldn’t be the same without Elvira, either. The two have become synonymous.

SPOILER: Cassandra, how are you?

CASSANDRA PETERSON: I’m great. Thanks for having me. I thought I’d never say this, but I’m actually missing going to Comic Cons [laughs] I really am.

SPOILER: You’re an icon. You play this amazing character named Elvira for so many years. How did you get the character of Elvira started?

CASSANDRA PETERSON: By the time it happened, I was working in Hollywood as an actress, trying to get work, and I was with The Groundlings comedy improv group for four-and-a-half years prior to that, along with the late Phil Hartman from Saturday Night Live, and Pee-wee Herman, and a lot of other notables came out of that group. But I was struggling. Getting little jobs acting here and there on Fantasy Island and Sonny and Cher Show, but not setting the world on fire, that’s for damn sure. Barely paying my rent. And I heard about this job at a local station. A girlfriend called me up on my honeymoon and asked me if I wanted to come and audition for this little late night local TV

show that was happening here in Los Angeles. And I said no, I didn’t wanna come back from my honeymoon. But a couple weeks later when I got back, they were still searching for someone to host the show. And it was a collection of old horror movies they had had forever, since the station had been owned by RKO General. They had a huge library of old—oh everything— like ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s horror movies. And I went in and auditioned. Unfortunately, no one told me I was supposed to wear a costume. That was really awesome. I walk in looking like, I dunno, one of Charlie’s Angels or something, into a room filled with women dressed like vampires and witches and everything else in between. And I dunno, I somehow got the part. I’m sure—I’m positive, because I later talked to the director about it—that it was for my comedy improv chops. He was wanting somebody who could be spooky, but could also be funny. And I think most of the girls that were there auditioning had the spooky down, but not the funny so much. And you know, I was happy. I was happy to get any job at that time so I could pay my car payment, but I wasn’t like, over the moon, like, “Oh my God! I just made it! I’m waiting for the Academy Awards!” It wasn’t like that, it was like, “Good, I got a job. I hope it lasts more than a couple of weeks.” Really that’s kinda the attitude we had. You know, this will be fun. And I happened to have been a huge horror fan, so this was a dream job for me. Couldn’t be better. I started at the end of September in 1981 and a couple weeks down the road, people were freaking out! I mean, I got called up and invited on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, which, at that time, was kinda the pinnacle of show business. There were no other talk shows to speak

of and he was definitely the king of that. Man, I got invited on that show and I was like, “Oh dude, something’s happening here, this is getting out of control.” And there you are. Next year it’ll be 40 years that I’ve been doing the same thing. So it’s a trip. I really didn’t think it’d be 40 days.

SPOILER: When I see you on interviews and TV shows, you look the same. You haven’t changed a bit. Is there a solution or potion or something you’re drinking that you’re not sharing with us?

CASSANDRA PETERSON: You haven’t seen me in the morning [laughs]. If there was some kind of solution, I would be marketing that stuff so fast you wouldn’t believe it. I wish there was. I wish I could say it was all due to good, clean living, but that never happened. But you know, I am careful about what I eat and I do exercise. But that’s the only thing I can really say. I guess maybe I have good jeans. I drink Dr. Pepper once in a while. I saw this lady who was 105-years-old on the news and they asked her what she owed her longevity to, and she said, “I drink a Dr. Pepper every day.” And I was like, “Damn. I’m gonna start drinking that stuff.” So I dunno. Who knows. I think it’s the vodka that I drink that kept me pickled or something.

SPOILER: Are fans always sharing stories with you about what you’ve meant to them over the years?

CASSANDRA PETERSON: Oh yeah, it’s crazy! I really do miss going to the Comic Cons for that reason. You cannot imagine, and it sounds so crazy, when it first happened, I thought, “This is very weird.” And now I’m kinda used to it, but it’s fabulous. People come up to me and they say, “I used to watch you every night with my grandma”; “I used to watch you with my grandpa”; “I used to watch you with my dad”; “…with my sister”; “…with my brother”; “…with my mom.” And they’d go, “…and now

they’ve passed and it was the one thing that we kinda connected over. We both liked watching you, sort of for different reasons.” People will say, “My dad liked to watch you for the boobs, but I liked to watch you because you were silly and goofy.” And they grew up watching me as kind of a family thing, which you really wouldn’t think it. You’d think they would watch, like, Leave It to Beaver together or Doris Day or something, I dunno. But they grew up watching my show together, and people walk up to me, and many times, burst into tears. I mean, of course, that’s probably because of the way I look [laughs]. But they walk up and start recounting the story: “I watched this every night with my dad and my dad has passed and just to see you makes me so happy and thrilled.” And I just hear these stories and it’s just so amazing and makes me feel really, really good to hear that kind of thing and to know that I brought a little bit of happiness to so many people.

SPOILER: When did you know that the Elvira persona was the one to define your career?

CASSANDRA PETERSON: It took me awhile. It was funny, in the beginning, the character started getting very popular, and I got invited on all these other TV shows and talk shows and parts in movies. And obviously I’m thrilled. I’m going, “Oh my God. I really finally have made it as an actress. This is amazing.” Then I thought, “You know, I’m doing so great, I gotta go out and get some other parts and do some other things. I don’t wanna be stereotyped as Elvira for the rest of my life” [laughs]. And as time went on, we were able to get the rights for the character and started creating merchandise and licensing products and selling things and making our own shows for TV, for video games, movies, all of that. And all of that money came to me. Unlike other people, who you

Miranda Frigon:Odessy

Barbu

might see—other characters who are equally great—like Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, anybody, they do not own their character. So they don’t reap the benefits of all that merchandise you see in the store. You see a Freddy Krueger costume—unfortunately, the actor who played that is not getting that money. They may, hopefully, get a small percentage of it, but possibly not even that. When I do something, I get 100% of that money. And after a while, it really dawned on me and my manager, who was my husband at the time, “Are you kidding? Why would I want to get away from that and do something else?” I, in fact, did get a part to be on a pilot for a TV show on NBC, and I was getting ready to enter into the contract as myself, and all of a sudden we thought, “Wait a minute, it’s October. I’m gonna be making $350 a week working on this show that might not even go and missing out on Halloween appearances? Am I out of my mind? What am I thinking?”

So, to me, there are very few people in the world who own their own licensing. I mean, the only few I can think of are Pee-wee Herman, KISS, Alice Cooper, but other than that, it’s a very small club. We own and control our characters. So, that is just an amazing blessing, I can’t tell you. So after a year or so, I was like, “I do not ever want to do anything BUT Elvira. This is really lucrative, and I have a fantastic time doing it.”

SPOILER: Do you think because you own the Elvira brand outright and you control the creativity is probably why it became so huge?

CASSANDRA PETERSON: Yeah, it definitely is. I was listening to a book by Woody Allen the other day about his career and his life and how he had complete control of all his movies—100% or he didn’t do them. And when he would work with a big studio where the suits got involved in telling him what to do, it was just a sure sign that the film was gonna be a disaster. And he was saying the

lucky part about his career, which really, really hit home with me, was that he had complete control. You know, what’s that old saying about too many chefs spoil the broth or whatever the heck it is—it’s some old saying, believe me, I didn’t make it up [laughs]—then it just gets watered down. And I think the secret to making a truly unique, long-lasting brand, is to let that entity, that person, control everything they do.

I mean, it’s not like I didn’t have help along the way. Oh my God, no, I’ve had help from so, so many people.

I couldn’t even begin to list all the people, who, without them, I don’t think I’d be doing what I do today. It’s about control—and I’m a bit of a control freak—but it’s about, “No, my character wouldn’t do this,” “Yes,

it would do this.” And if you get somebody else involved in it, they have their own personal agenda and it’s gonna change your brand, your character. And that’s when the character becomes—they want it to be for everyman instead of for a specific group that you’re aiming for; a specific audience. So I’ve gone off on that whole question, but the first part really hit home with me, because of just hearing that from Woody Allen the other day, it just really, really made an impact on me. I thought, “Damn! That is a fantastic point!”

SPOILER: I sense that a lot of Elvira is in Cassandra. Would you agree?

CASSANDRA PETERSON: People used to ask me in the beginning,

“Are you anything like Elvira?” And I’d say, “No, I’m exactly the complete opposite. She’s really ballsy and confident and tough and strong. And I’m like a wuss. She’s my frontman.”

And then one day, I think it was Peewee who actually said to me, “You are exactly like Elvira! What are you talking about? You’re completely a teenager. You never grew up. You are her.” And I started thinking about it. And I really think Elvira is that part of

my personality that was me when I was a teenager. Because when I was a teenager, I was this—ugghh, oh my God, my poor parents—I was just this brash, loud-mouthed, know-it-all, kick-ass kind of kid. I mean, I moved out of my house at 14 and went to work as a go-go girl. So I really think that part of me has somehow come out in Elvira. So Elvira is Cassandra as a teenager, which is kinda scary [laughs].

SPOILER: It’s hard to have staying power in Hollywood. Specially for four decades. I know conventions are a key because your diehard fans pass the love down from generation to generation. What was it like at your first convention?

CASSANDRA PETERSON: It was shocking. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t believe the amount of people that had turned out and just wanted me to sign my name. I couldn’t get over that. I was like, “Seriously?” And I think we were charging something like $10 an autograph [laughs]. It was at a car show in Denver, Colorado. I was the only celebrity and then there were just a bunch of cars—classic cars and stuff—and I was so thrilled that I signed and signed and signed and signed. And at the end of the day, my shoulder went into a spasm and I had to go to the hospital and have an injection of cortisone in my shoulder muscle [laughs]. I was so thrilled that I didn’t know when to stop [laughs]. Isn’t that ridiculous? Now I’ve built up such an incredible autograph signing muscle so I never have to worry about that anymore. People always, when they come up

Miranda Frigon:Odessy Barbu;Natalia Anja

in line at the cons, they always say to me, “Oh my God, your hand must be killing you.” I go, “My hand is fine, it’s my butt that’s killin’ me. I’ve been sittin’ here for 8 hours.”

SPOILER: It’s exciting with Halloween around the corner. We all know Halloween is your thing. But this year, with COVID, it’s not gonna be the same. Does it bother you a little bit?

CASSANDRA PETERSON: Actually, it’s very funny, I have a music video coming out at the end of September that I’ve been working on for quite a while with some friends. One of which is Jackie Beat, who is a drag queen here in LA and all over the place. Jackie helped write the lyrics and it’s a super funny song kind of addressing Halloween this year. So I’m hoping to God it comes out the way I’m imagining it will. So that’s coming up. But this Halloween will be the first time in 40 years I have been home. The first time. In a way, I’m really kinda looking forward to it. In another way, it’s depressing to think about.

SPOILER: If fans want to get a hold of you, should they reach out via your Instagram @TheRealElvira?

CASSANDRA PETERSON: Yeah, and that’s for Instagram and Facebook and Twitter and everything. And then they can always go to Elvira.com where actually, next week, I’m launching a new area with all kinds of new designs for more Elvira crap [laughs], but actually some awesome fun things too.

SPOILER: Wow, so much Elvira stuff on the site [laughs], Cassandra!

CASSANDRA PETERSON: Don’t freak out, I’m actually selling my MAGA hats— Make America Goth Again. Those are coming out soon. Made in Transylvania. All kinds of new, really fun stuff for Halloween starting next week. And my comic book with Dynamite has been out for, gosh, how long now? I dunno, a couple of years maybe. But we have a new really special edition coming out

and they’re doing a Kickstarter program for this one because they’re giving away all kinds of prizes like my new Elvira Ouija Board and different things for this new special edition comic book written by me and David Avallone. So that will be super fun for the comic book crowd. You’ll be able to find info at Elvira. com as well when that launches. And I have, of course, my autobiography, which sadly I have finished after like, a thousand years of writing it. I really have, I’ve been writing it for 15 years [laughs]. And I’ve finally got done with it and we were all set to launch this fall when COVID-19 came along and we are gonna postpone it for now just because I can’t tour with it, I can’t go to book signings. And if you don’t, it’s like a musician putting an album out and then not touring, and then the album disappears into obliviousness. So, I don’t want to have spent the last 15 years of my life working on a book that just comes out and is just gone overnight. If you sign up for my newsletter we’ll be letting everybody know when [everything’s] coming out, so they’ll get a little jump start on the action.

SPOILER: As we wrap this up, what do you want to say to your lovely fans? CASSANDRA PETERSON: Well, just tell them that I really, really miss them, and being out in public and getting to meet them and see them. That’ll be a big disappointment for me this year. But you know what? We’re still gonna have Halloween. We’re gonna make it fun. Everybody, even if you’re celebrating at home or online or however you do, dress up, have fun! I’m having a contest: one-minute horror movie. Keep your eyeballs peeled for that on my social media. The best one-minute horror movie shot with your phone. And I’ll be giving away some really, really awesome prizes for that. I’m trying to make Halloween fun from home, what can I say!

BY ETHAN BREHM

If while watching 1982’s halloween

iii: season of the witch

you can’t help but wonder if this was originally meant to be a separate project altogether, slapped with the

“Halloween” name for marketing purposes, you’d actually be incorrect. The third entry in the long-running series departs from its slasher roots and features neither Jamie Lee Curtis as the heroine nor Michael Myers as the masked villain. However, this was very much by design.

John Carpenter and Debra Hill, the minds behind the 1978 original (produced by Hill, directed by Carpenter, written by both of them), actually conceived the idea that Halloween would become an anthology film series, where each installment would focus on a different aspect of the holiday. However, Myers had become such a beloved and iconic villain already— and featured in two simultaneous movies at that point—that the public’s expectation was to see the psychward escapee back in action again.

This wouldn’t be the only time a storied franchise would deviate from their main villain for a spell. Friday the 13th would try a similar idea in 1985 with its fifth installment, but

film had a method to its madness, and a plan that would have been fun to see come to fruition if perhaps its method had been made more clear from the beginning. Likewise, the film doesn’t negate its pair of progenitors, but treats Halloween and its sequel—shown here twice in diegesis—as fictional films within this universe.

Nearly 40 years later, Halloween III has been viewed through a much different lens, with many actually preferring it over its slasher counterparts. After years of a movie garnering a reputation for NOT featuring Michael Myers, expectations are no longer put in place for him to be there, and we can watch the film free of any disappointments. The retrospective revaluation also says a lot about how societal tastes have evolved, even in just four decades. Today, an extended universe/anthology story sounds more fun or intriguing than it does frustrating.

Another big reason why the film has been received so much better in today’s climate is that audiences understand the idea of an extended universe—or multiverse—and fully embrace it. And perhaps if that had been the case back then, the connection between Season of the Witch and the first two movies may have been made a little more apparent by the filmmakers. Nowadays, something like this could totally work (SEE: 10 Cloverfield Lane), but in 1982, the idea of tangential works was a little more confusing. To its credit, Halloween III doesn’t try to force a third story for a cash grab, but creates a whole new one.

A doctor, Daniel Challis (Tom Atkins), in Northern California witnesses an oddity at the hospital where he works. One of his patients sees a TV commercial for Silver Shamrock Novelties and starts spouting about how “they’re gonna kill us all.” Later that night, the man is murdered, and Daniel sees his killer light himself on fire, committing suicide in the parking lot.

Nonplussed by the whole ordeal, Daniel meets the victim’s daughter, Ellie (Stacey Nelkin), who informs him that her father owned a costume shop and that he had been acting strange before his death. They discover that he had visited a supplier, Silver Shamrock, in the town of Santa Mira.

Together, the two of them travel to Santa Mira, a company town owned by Silver Shamrock head honcho, Conal Cochran (Dan O’Herlihy), and under surveillance 24/7. They check into a motel and attempt to figure

out what exactly Cochran is covering up and why it seems like he’s trying to brainwash all of the children in America.

Atkins is brilliant in his starring role, exuding a realistic and comforting demeanor that grounds this far-out premise, proving once again that he was one of the best and most reliable leading men in ‘80s horror. O’Herlihy plays a great villain who doesn’t exactly shift from nice guy to antagonist, but instead is able to intentionally let the sinister nature appear to be buried underneath his disingenuous charisma. Carpenter, who produces the film, also does the music along with longtime collaborator Alan Howarth. Their score here is one of their best, using meticulously composed synths, abandoning the gimmicky motifs of the previous two films, maturing in both style and substance. They don’t lean on Myers’ theme to build suspense, instead craft a more abstract pulse to keep our eyes wide, utilizing macabre ambiance that matches the season

more appropriately than the more syncopated high-tonality of the original, showing how far they’ve come as artists since 1978.

Written and directed by Tommy Lee Wallace (revised from a script by Nigel Kneale), Halloween III is the true vision of an auteur. Wallace, who served as the editor and production designer for the 1978 film, establishes an eerie ambiance, especially when taking us on a tour of Cochran’s mask factory, with the walls decked out in evocative latex masks and display cases filled with pranks, gags, and knickknacks.

Sick and twisted in its premise, with the special effects punctuating the evildoings more than informing us of them, Season of the Witch abandons the slasher DNA of its predecessors and leans into the mystery-thriller genre with creepy horror elements that give this more of a hybrid feel. The gore does not go overboard, but there are some pretty effective practical effects by Tom Burman that are more goosebumpsinducing than grotesque, relying more on their context than mere visuals alone.

In one regard, Wallace’s pacing isn’t as lean as it could be. For one, the opening scene could have probably been cut out, with the plot starting at the hospital. There’s a lot of time

taken to get from point A to point B, but on the other hand, the story is given a chance to breathe and expand. The director doesn’t ever buy into clichés, seeming to forget those subconscious tendencies to execute scenes in a manner we’ve seen them accomplished hundreds of times before. The characters have an effect on their environment and the payoffs are always totally justified by their setups in a way that eclipses Carpenter’s ability to do just that.

As a critique on anti-capitalism, the film’s villain is that of a successful businessman willing to throw it all away over idealism, pushing the commentary even harder by having him murder his number-one retailer in the country for no other reason other than to say, “Your hard work doesn’t matter to my overall goal.”

While the topic is heavy-handed, the themes are not as overt.

Wallace makes sure nothing is worn on his sleeve, even leaving much of the mechanics of Cochran’s operation up to our imagination. The director doesn’t omit things through carelessness, but by design. I couldn’t help but make the audacious comparison to Toy Story, another film that doesn’t explain every detail about how its high-concept world functions so that we’re left to ruminate upon it in our brains. Wallace does the same here, only hinting at things like characters’ backstories, explanations for our villain, and the dynamics of a relationship between two people.

There’s a bonkers-crazy twist late in the film that feels out of left field, even though it contains clever symbolism for our protagonist’s knack for wanting to escape reality in favor of things that lack authenticity; putting on his own mask, so to speak. And when he finally thinks he’s found his paradise, it turns out to be a facade. It makes you realize that Wallace really does know what he’s doing after all.

Once the black sheep of the franchise, Halloween III: Season of the Witch is a brilliant horror film that holds up all these years later, standing out, not only among the others in the series, but among other horror films of that decade— especially ones themed around the holiday of Halloween. If you go into this not expecting Michael Myers then you’ll have a much better time and be able to enjoy the fun of it all.

BY ETHAN BREHM

los angeles has long been KNOWN as a cultural hub,

the paradigm for great weather, and a mecca for the film and TV industries. It’s the single most populous city in California and the second most in the United States. A major lodestone of the West Coast and the bellwether of culture, art, and entertainment, Los Angeles seems to have everything. But prior to 2011, it had yet to establish a major comic book convention.

San Diego had its flagship ComicCon and New York had its own as well, but inexplicably, LA only had small, unknown events (all still great in their own right). Temecula native Regina Carpinelli and her two younger brothers noticed this absence and decided to change all that. And in November 2011, the very first Comikaze Expo was launched.

Held in Kentia Hall at the Los Angeles Convention Center, the

inaugural event was host to 35,000 attendees—humble compared to the 123,000 in 2019—and went off relatively without a hitch. Right away, guests could tell that this convention would have its own identity, reflecting the LA scene, with local artists, tattoo artists, and comic book dealers all converging to help make something special. It was a refreshing change of pace from the glossy coat of its competitors. The event was also imbued with a nostalgic vibe, hosting various retro cast reunions, which have become a mainstay over the years.

That identity has held true ever since. In 2012, Carpinelli partnered with Marvel legend Stan Lee and his company POW! Entertainment, as well as Elvira herself, Cassandra Peterson, and was rebranded as

Los Angeles

Comic Con/Chris DeMoulin/ Comikaze Entertainment

Stan Lee’s Comikaze. Although both icons were no strangers to fan conventions, they made Comikaze their home, setting the tone for what the annual event would really come to embody: comic books, horror, and nostalgia.

2012 would also include an appearance by Kevin Smith, where he recorded a live version of his podcast Fatman on Batman, featuring a guest appearance by the original Batman, Adam West. Smith would also become a mainstay almost every year from then on.

Renamed once again to Stan Lee’s L.A. Comic Con in 2016, the convention has continued to grow each year, but has still managed to retain almost a cult-like following. With the addition of an entire horror section in 2019, cementing its distinction from other contemporaries, and an exhibit from LA’s own Petersen Automotive Museum, LACC has become not only a celebration of pop culture, but of the local community. And an entire decade later, it’s now a staple in downtown Los Angeles—a showcase of the city’s own culture while symbiotically giving it some back in the process.

2019 also saw numerous dedications to Stan Lee following his passing the year before, including a memorial wall where guests could write messages to the comic book icon and a panel discussion on the main stage discussing his legacy. Lee always felt the authenticity behind LACC, which is why he was so passionate about his partnership. Despite a convention scene that was muted across the globe in 2020, L.A. Comic Con is back this year with its 10th outing this December, where it will host over 800 vendors and dozens of celebrity guests, including Zachary Levi,

Since day one, the mascot for L.A Comic Con has been an indelible octopus—now named Stanley following a fan-submitted contest last year—a visage that essentially alludes to the unruly pandemonium that its namesake metropolis has become defined by. But when you look back at the convention’s humble beginnings, it’s almost impossible to believe that that same honestto-goodness, fan-driven mindset is still present today. Known as the convention that’s “from fans, for fans,” LACC has always played by its own rules and embraced this sense of quirkiness, unwilling to compromise its mission for the sake of conforming to what all the other big conventions are doing. And ten years later, we’re continually reminded that, despite its gargantuan size, Los Angeles is still a lot smaller than it looks.

Giancarlo Esposito, Jason David Frank, Bruce Campbell, Frank Miller, Will Friedle, and Nichelle Nichols in her final ever convention appearance, among many, many others.

L.A. Comic Con will be held December 2nd through 4th at the Los Angeles Convention Center

When you look back at the convention’s humble beginnings, it’s almost impossible to believe that that same honestto-goodness, fandriven mindset is still present today.

INTERVIEW BY GALAXY INTRO BY ETHAN BREHM

You listen to Chris DeMoulin, the head honcho

of Los Angeles Comic Con, speak about this massive undertaking each year in Downtown LA and you can tell that there’s nobody better suited for his job. The CEO has been helping build up the convention since 2012, during the show’s second annual event, and each and every year he and his team have continued to evolve LACC while maintaining its roots. Chris has been working in the trade show industry for around 20 years, and event planning for even longer, and knows what it takes to run one of these colossal events smoothly, but also totally grasps what fans want out of the experience, because he’s a fan himself.

The mantra over at LA Comic Con is, “for fans, by fans,” and Chris lives by that mission whole-heartedly. Growing up a collector of comic books and a Star Trek devotee, Chris never dreamed that he’d one day inherit and help grow the biggest convention in the pop culture mecca of the world. LACC represents Los Angeles, and vice versa. ”We want to reflect the eclecticism of LA in the show, because LA is a sort of smash-up of every cultural influence in the world,” remarks the CEO of the importance of maintaining that homegrown identity. It’s what separates this convention from all the rest, fusing mainstream fandoms with the spirit and local culture of Los Angeles itself.

After a year without conventions across the globe, LA Comic Con is back and better than ever. Chris discusses their recent expansion to take over the entire Downtown Convention Center, which includes an additional hall specifically for anime and gaming. The show also features 800 vendors and exhibitors—their most ever—who are all thrilled to finally be able to sell in person

again. But with COVID still being at large in our world, LACC has taken the proper precautions while still widening its scope to decrease crowd density as well.

Chris talks, almost poetically, about his love for conventions. They’re not only his career, but a fervent passion. “Trade shows are sorta magical, right?” he says, referring to the experience of taking an empty convention center and briefly turning it into a bustling metropolis packed with people of similar interests for only three days. It’s like a dream, and then you blink and it’s gone. Well, Los Angeles Comic Con is a city within a city; a fandom mecca in its own right.

But staying true to his credo, the CEO concerns himself less with attendance numbers than he does with what’s best for the fans: “I hope everyone who comes has a great experience, but whether it’s 100,000 or 160,000 people, it doesn’t matter. I just hope everyone who comes feels like they got to do what they wanted, has a smile on their face when they leave, and looks forward to coming back next year.”

interview interview

SPOILER: How did LA Comic Con start?

CHRIS DeMOULIN: The show was founded by a sister and two brothers back in 2010. For the second year in a row, they couldn’t get tickets to a certain comic convention that’s south of here [laughs]. So, in their frustration they thought, “Heck, we’ll just throw our own show!” They reached out to friends and have a lot of connections within the community. And their first show was in November of 2011, called Comikaze. I was fortunate enough to get introduced to them the following year because I was in the trade show business and their largest investor was an old friend of mine.

SPOILER: What made you get into the convention business?

Chris DeMoulin:George

Chris DeMoulin:Footwear News

CHRIS DeMOULIN: I moved to LA almost 30 years ago to work for Disney, where I worked in their licensing group. And I got very involved in entertainment. But I had little kids, so after about 10 years of working at Disney, I decided to spend some more time with them. I never thought about the trade show business, but as a person who worked for Disney, I went to trade shows all the time. Trade shows are sorta magical, right? Because you take over this giant convention center, it’s a million square feet of space and it’s empty, and you essentially build a city so that all the people who care about something come together for three days. Sometimes you’re creating a marketplace, sometimes you’re creating an experience for fans. And they come and there’s this explosion of “wow.” And literally 24 hours later, it’s gone and it’s back to being an empty box.

I ran trade shows in the apparel industry, one called MAGIC, I ran the Licensing Expo. And when I met the founders for Comikaze, I thought, “This is great! I work with all the studios, but what the studios do eventually gets represented in stuff for the fans.” Comic Con is the final resting place for all that work. It was a great opportunity, not just to work with the studios on the business side, but also be able to bring the fans together and see the results of all that hard work.

SPOILER: The guests this year are amazing! Were some of them scheduled for 2020 or did you start from scratch for this year?

CHRIS DeMOULIN: We’ve always been driven by the fact that this is a show for fans, by fans. And all of us who work on it are, ourselves, fans. And it’s a delightful responsibility to be able to think about who we would [want to see at the convention] as a fan. And we want to reflect the eclecticism of LA in the show, because LA is a sort of smash-up of every cultural influence in the world. So, we started building the talent base for the 2021 show when we were originally scheduled for September 2020. And now we’re finally getting to do the show. Zachary Levi

has been planning to be with us for two years. Frank Miller for a year and a half. Tom Kenny for a year. And some other people, like MingNa Wen, we just added in the last couple of months. So, it’s really been this sort of rolling process of trying to add new pieces to compliment who’s there. We try to cover all the bases of the fandoms because that’s what LA’s all about. And that was the impetus for us adding this whole extension into West Hall for anime and gaming and esports because that’s a big part of what’s growing in LA and in entertainment right now. The show should always reflect what the fans love at any given time. We’re also gonna have 800 vendors and exhibitors who haven’t been able to sell their stuff to fans in person in two years. That’s so exciting to us that they’re going to be able to see their fans again!

SPOILER: This year, LA Comic Con will feature a Nichelle Nichols Farewell event. What can we expect from that?

CHRIS DeMOULIN: The folks who have done a number of these—they did James Doohan’s farewell a few years ago—they came to us and said that they had been hoping last year to do a farewell event for Nichelle. They had been working with her and her family, and Nichelle was 100% on board with what they were planning, but with COVID, they didn’t have a place to do it. And we said that we’re expanding to take over the whole Convention Center, because we wanted to do that anyway just to be able to space things out, and for people who aren’t entirely comfortable coming out in crowds yet—we figured if we were in a much bigger space, it would lower the crowd density. So, we said, “We’ll give you guys thirty-five or forty thousand square feet of space. Why don’t you just do it with us?”

Star Trek’s one of my fandoms. I’m a huge fan. We just thought it was a terrific opportunity to be part of a farewell for Nichelle and do it in a proper way. They have it really well thought out. They have 20 or 25

cast members from every single TV show that there’s been, and some movies. And they have some really cool props. So, we said, “We’re happy to give you a home for it. Just bring it here.”

I think “honor” is the right word. She’s had such an amazing career, and an impact on so many young women. For us to just be part of her last farewell, [it’s an honor]. And for her family and her team to really be part of planning it, that’s really important too.

SPOILER: I know Stan Lee is a big part of LA Comic Con’s lineage. What was his role before he passed [in 2018]?

CHRIS DeMOULIN: Stan met the founders and actually came to the very first show. And he sensed that they were really creating a fancentric convention. It was actually a licensing agreement with him. We were involved with Stan and Stan’s company. And the show became “Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo,” and

then eventually “Stan Lee’s Comic Con.” And so we worked with Stan and his team. We would bring in a prop museum. We would figure out what panels Stan would want to join on the Main Stage and how much signing he wanted to do, and we would facilitate that, and would build the rest of the show around that.

For me, as a kid I grew up a huge comic collector in the suburbs of Rochester, New York. So, 50 years before I ever met him, I already worshipped the talent that he brought together and what he accomplished with those stories—such an important part of my life. And to come full circle years later and be able to work with him was such a magical, amazing thing. He was an unbelievable human being—incredibly caring and creative. He really was a force of nature. You met him and he did not disappoint.

For those couple of years that he was involved, we would bounce creative ideas off of him and he was always at the show all three days. He would call up his friends and ask them

to do things. One of the panels I’ll never forget, in 2013 or 2014, Todd McFarlane came to interview Stan on the Main Stage. And we’ve always put our Main Stage right in the middle of the show floor, because I don’t like that thing that happens at a lot of the other Cons, where in order to see the really cool stuff, you have to leave the convention and go wait in line for three hours. So, when the panel started and Todd and Stan started talking to each other, almost every single person in the Convention Center—it’s a big building, it’s 350,000 square feet— they all turned around and made their way towards the Main Stage. By the end, there were about 14,000 people watching them talk. And we have this picture from behind them on the stage: these two guys who are amazing creative forces interviewing each other, and then there’s thousands of fans in front of them listening and eating up every word. To me, that’s what the essence of LA Comic Con is all about, bringing creators together and then giving them the opportunity to talk about what they do in a way that the fans can experience firsthand.

SPOILER: What’s your favorite part of the convention?

CHRIS DeMOULIN: One of my personal favorites is when we bring on voice casts from animated TV

shows, because I have two kids— they’re 25 and 22 now—but when they were little, we spent hours and hours of wonderful time together watching animated shows. So, Tom Kenny’s a guest this year, and he came last time as well, and both my kids came because that’s SpongeBob. And we spent a lot of SpongeBob time together as a family [laughs]. Folks like him get a very warm reception. Regularly, we’ll have about six or eight thousand people at a panel where we have a reunion of a voice cast.

I’m also really thrilled that we have Sideshow Collectibles coming to our show for the very first time. They’re putting together a museumquality experience. And one of the things they’re going to have there is their life-size Grogu from The Mandalorian. And, of course, we have Giancarlo Esposito and MingNa Wen coming from the cast, so I’m hoping at some point we can get them over and have a photo op with Grogu.

And the other thing I’m really looking forward to is Gerard Way— I’m a big Umbrella Academy fan and he’s a brilliant creative—interviewing Frank Miller on the Main Stage. To me, that’s going to be the sort of next generation moment of that Todd McFarlane/Stan Lee interview.

As a fan, those are the three highlights that I’m looking forward to, but we also added this whole anime and gaming hall. So, we have a whole second Main Stage in the West Hall. And we’ve got over 40 voice actors coming in from some of the largest anime shows and video games out there—the whole casts are coming. In some instances, for the video games, we’re hoping to get some of the cast members into a pro-am competition where we load

Chris DeMoulin/Los Angeles

Comic Con/Magic

the games on the Main Stage and they play against each other and do a little improv voice over of what’s going on on screen.

Also, a special thing Friday night, Laugh Factory is programming two hours of a comedy show on the Main Stage, so they’re going to bring in six or eight headliners and do a comedy show. I think it’ll be somewhat similar to what we did with Jack Black a couple years ago where he and Tenacious D took over the stage for an hour and a half and just entertained.

SPOILER: Any tips for attendees?

CHRIS DeMOULIN: If you have younger kids, Sunday’s a great day to come because we’re doing a kids costume contest. On Sunday, kids 6 and under are free. They can get up on the stage and repurpose their Halloween costumes one more time [laughs].

If you’re a hardcore shopper or collector, Friday’s always a good shopping night because it doesn’t tend to be as crowded, and so you really have an opportunity to go around and see all the show exclusives. You can spend a little more quality time with the artists and talk with them about why they do what they do and their inspiration.

SPOILER: What is your wish for this year?

CHRIS DeMOULIN: My wish for this year is that everyone comes and not only sees the things that they came to see, but they find something that reminds them of the shows that they loved as a kid that nobody else quite got. One of the things I love about this convention, and I think makes this convention different, is we try so hard to have such an eclectic mix of stuff. As a fan, we love the big stuff— we all love Avengers, we all love Star Wars—but we also have those little individual personal things that are so meaningful to us. And I hope people have the opportunity to have those moments as well. And that’s why we’ll have 120, 130 talent here,

because we want people to have that opportunity to have that moment of discovery, that moment of wonder where something just resonates, something that was so important to them as a kid that they’ve carried it into adulthood.

About 30% of our attendees bring their kids, and I love that. I love that this is one generation sharing their love of these stories and these characters with the next generation. I’m not as focused about how many people come. I hope everyone who comes has a great experience, but whether it’s 100,000 or 160,000 people, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that everyone who comes feels that joy of being together in a crowd of fellow fans again and feels good about the fact that we can finally get out and, with safety precautions, start to re-indulge in some of these wonderful activities with friends and like-minded folks out there. I just hope everyone who comes feels like they got to do what they wanted, has a smile on their face when they leave, and looks forward to coming back next year.

SPOILER: The website is also very easy to navigate. Was that something that you’ve worked hard on?

CHRIS DeMOULIN: Yeah, I think we’ve really tried to learn a lot about making the website easier to use.

One of my obsessions, having been a trade show person for ten years, running hundreds of shows with millions of people attending them, I think it’s super important that the organizer thinks through where all the possible bottlenecks are and solves for them before the first fan shows up. It’s just inexcusable to have to wait in line for an hour, hour and a half to get through something. I know there are going to be 20,000 people who wanna come in the first three hours on Saturday morning, so we need to develop the capacity to get those people in. We have 36 different entrances people can use, so they’ll be spread out. 15,000 of our tickets were mailed in advance this year, so they already have their badges, they don’t need to go through the third badge check. As

Los Angeles Comic Con/Getty Images

a fan, your time is precious. You’re paying good money to come here. And if you’re gonna be at the show for eight hours, you should be going around doing things you like for eight hours, not spending four or five of those hours in lines that don’t need to be there. We give as much attention to the logistics as we do to who the guests are that we should bring in.

SPOILER: If fans want to meet you during the weekend, where can they find you?

CHRIS DeMOULIN: I’m everywhere. If anyone really wants to say hello, they can ask any of the security people. We have a lot of people with “Ask Me” shirts on. They’ll get on their walkie talkie and call me, and I’ll come over and say hi. Look, we do this because we’re fans. It’s really a true story that three siblings got frustrated that the convention they used to go to, they couldn’t get in anymore. And so, they wanted to create a convention that’s 100% fan-focused. And we keep that as our mantra—it’s at the center of

everything we do. I always say, if there’s something you don’t like, tell me. If there’s something you love, tell your friends. We have a new ticketing partner this year, called Tixr, so when people go to buy tickets, it’s through them. And Tixr has a rewards program. When you buy a ticket, you get a code. And if you give that code to your friend and they buy a ticket, then you get money back on your ticket. So, if you bring in 10 friends, your ticket will be free!

SPOILER: Where do you see the convention going in the future?

CHRIS DeMOULIN: I think the convention should go where the fans want it to go. So this year, this expansion of talent and gaming and anime is an important expansion. Because we’re not walking away from anything we’ve been doing.

All of the traditional Con stuff—the comics, the toys, the collectibles, the guests, the panels—we’re still doing all of that stuff, but we’re adding these other things because we’ve seen so much growth in fan

interest in those areas. And the stories cross over. Avengers isn’t just a big movie, it’s a big video game. And you get terrific anime shows that become collectible lines and then they become video games. We’re going to really expand that [in the future] and we’re going to make an announcement at the show about continued expansion we’re going to do in that area. So, you’ll see LA Comic Con always trying to make sure that we represent the full spectrum of entertainment that really represents Los Angeles.

We’ll be throughout the entire Convention Center, and I can see us [in the future] having activities over at LA Live, really spreading out over that whole part of Downtown LA, and all of Downtown LA becoming a celebration of pop culture fandom on our weekend every year. There’s a lot of people in this city and a lot of fans of different things. I mean, we’re doing a crossover effort with the LA Kings this year. That’s the thing about LA: There’s all these different fandoms and we all live side by side, and we gotta find ways to celebrate together.

BY ETHAN BREHM

remaking a film as groundbreaking

as George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead is pretty ballsy, even if you aren’t a brand new filmmaker. So Zack Snyder’s intent on reimagining the 1978 classic wasn’t just a testament to the young director’s tenacity and confidence, but some would have even called it stupid. Although, with great risk comes great reward, and despite its flaws, Snyder’s 2004 version of Dawn of the is very much a worthy remake and addition to the zombie genre. But the filmmaker did have some James Gunn, who in 2004 was mostly known for writing the livemovie, was hired to pen the new horror script. Gunn is a smart writer in his own right, but his talents were much more raw at that time compared to his later films.

Dawn of the follows a group of four survivors of the zombie apocalypse as they take shelter in the attic of an indoor shopping mall. Their new life there is indefinite and the meandering zombies that roam the mall floor are easily avoidable.

Snyder’s version is the same

in concept only. After a zombie outbreak in Wisconsin, a nurse, Ana Clark (Sarah Polley), tries to leave town by car. She crashes, getting knocked out, and is later revived by a police officer, Kenneth Hall (Ving Rhames), and together they meet another trio of survivors, Michael (Jake Weber), Andre (Mekhi Phifer), and his pregnant wife Luda (Inna Korobkina). Together they find refuge in a shopping mall.

This is where the story is taken in a different direction entirely from

Romero’s. From here, the group of survivors slowly grows. The five characters soon discover a small team of mall cops, led by the militant C.J. (Michael Kelly), and are forced to remain locked inside one of the stores. Eventually C.J. is overthrown and put into a holding cell. Later on, a truck filled with more survivors arrives and the mall quickly turns into a commune of sorts.

Snyder’s version is successful at standing on its own as a solid zombie movie with its own identity, but the original is so iconic that the comparisons are unavoidable. The original Dawn of the Dead is a horror movie in almost every regard, but it’s also very much a product of where the genre was in 1978. The scares are fueled more by tension build-up, and the characters benefit from lessthreatening, slow-walking zombies.

In the remake, Snyder won’t be accused of building too much suspense as he continuously provides us with thrills and action. While Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead wasn’t the first to incorporate fast-running zombies, the undead

portrayed in the film were among the most aggressive we’d seen on screen by 2004 and, combined with Snyder’s brand of kinetic camerawork, created a panic unlike anything we had seen at the time. The result is not only an effective horror movie, but an equally demanding action flick. This is a stark contrast to Romero’s original, where the zombies walk around comedically brainless, which worked for the slower pacing of the film, as well as its commentary on the mindlessness of American consumerism. The zombies were metaphors for people.

Where Romero’s film is slow and pensive, Snyder’s leaves the characters not much time to think. With the faster pace, they become less strategic. We hardly hear them mulling over their problem, mostly reacting to it. Gunn might be perfect for the job as his screenplay, too, only ever touches upon its themes.

Romero treats the world outside of the mall’s walls as a crucial element of subtext, using his characters as a mirror for what’s going on elsewhere. Gunn sees those details as a mere formality, glossing over them just as quickly. There’s some richness beneath the surface here, but these characters hardly ever feel connected to the outbreak itself, except of course on a surface level, such as when they literally become infected and turn into zombies.

Even though characters aren’t necessarily developed much individually, we see how they’ve grown through their experience. The themes aren’t as focused on isolation, but how duty and responsibility can change a person. Kenneth, initially, was going to flee to find his brother in another state, but soon realizes that he’s needed more in the mall, and so he stays despite his own personal desires. Conversely, just look at Andre. He sees the birth of his child as a chance to right all the wrongs he’s done in his life. His duty, while under the pretense of selflessness, is actually driven more by his own selffocus, and thus his situation results in disaster. He panics and starts doing things for the wrong reasons.

Again, the development happens on a broad level, blanketing on top of the circumstance rather than targeting any one idea specifically. Gunn seems haphazard with his themes. Early on there’s an obsession

with screens and media, but then the writer, along with Snyder, goes nowhere with it. He does this a few times elsewhere. He toys with the idea of finding the will to live even when things seem hopeless in a world that doesn’t seem worth living in. Again, this is to no avail and almost feels obligatory rather than profound.

There are also a few hints of religious notions, but if anything, the writer seems more focused on presenting an array of philosophies by the characters; showing all sides, rather than holding an opinion himself. It’s also possible that he just doesn’t quite have enough grasp on faith to believably comment on it. You always think he’s going in the logical direction with his commentary, but then just deadends abruptly.

There are some intriguing ideas that occur more inherently within the plot, such as the journey of catastrophe—the ups and downs of a bad situation. On one hand, there’s bonding through the reality of the circumstance, going through it together. On the other, there are characters becoming stir-crazy and demanding some sort of

“

The original Dawn of the Dead is a horror movie in almost every regard, but it’s also very much a product of where the genre was in 1978.

“

who you’re stuck at home with, but there’s also something tethering you to your previous expectations of normalcy in life.

The one character Snyder’s film cares to develop is C.J., the wound up mall cop with a chip on his shoulder (as we assume most mall cops to have). You can tell he wants to be a real police officer and goes at Kenneth (a real police officer) right away. C.J. barks orders, waves a gun around, asserts dominance—all of which are easy to do if you’re safe inside of a mall. However, it’s not until he goes through the fire and flames with the others that he’s faced with the reality of the situation and is able to find his own reality as well. And so, a man who once refused to put forth any effort in saving outsiders, letting them die instead, is now risking his life for his comrades.

What makes this arc so compelling is how subtly it’s presented. C.J., himself, even has an unawareness of his own change—much like this film, he has no time to stop and reflect. It’s the immersion in the chaos that brings about his redemption. He’s suddenly faced with reality—no longer just watching disaster on TV, but living through it. As in real

life, it doesn’t matter the details behind someone’s conversion, rather his willingness to change in the first place. Gunn plays with levels of antagonism here, and C.J., who starts out as the most virulent human villain, experiences one of the most unexpected redemption arcs in “recent” cinema.

Rhames’ Kenneth is another standout character, keeping to himself most of the time, but serving as a father figure to the others through his protectiveness and stoicism. The actor totally understands his character and what purpose he serves to the film, even

in all its minimalism. Kenneth’s rooftop bond with the owner of a gun store across the parking lot is a lot of fun to watch. It’s the relationship that changes him, even though the two men never talk and only communicate via whiteboards and binoculars.

Polly is great as our lead, and her despair is quiet, but palpable. She understands the emotional limitations that a situation like this can reveal, and instead of forcing herself to expand upon it, the actress is able to justify its narrowness.

Snyder picked a good film to remake. Romero’s horror was always more idea-based. Snyder, on the other hand, has more of a focus on style and pacing—entertainment in the most literal sense. And in 2004, here’s a director who hasn’t yet

“

Where Romero’s film isslow and pensive, Snyder’sleaves the charactersnot much time to think.With the faster pace, theybecome less strategic.

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overwhelmed his films with his visual style, as he would with his very next endeavor, 300. Snyder keeps things relatively tame, despite the occasional use of his trademarked slow motion. The style is enough to add to the experience and make it feel fresh, but doesn’t take over the movie or detract from the story per se. In fact, considering some of the incoherent camerawork during the action sequences, I wish he had actually used more slow motion so the viewer could have better understood the details of the scenes where characters are the most immersed in the undead. Despite being an action-first horror film, the action cinematography is perhaps the weakest aspect.

There’s not a ton of symbolism behind the camera either, and where we think it lies, it doesn’t. Both the slo-mo cigarette and the bullet falling to the ground turn out to be merely gratuitous. There are fun allusions to the original film and Romero’s follow-up as well as nods to even the Romero-adjacent Italian film Zombi 2

At times Snyder and Gunn are at odds with one another, working on different pages entirely. The director seems to desire something a bit

more austere and dark—perhaps even thoughtful—and his penchant for an angrier approach to action is evident even with his debut. However, his writer has a hard time balancing sympathy with his own preferred near-comedic frankness, opting almost always for the latter. Any attempt at sympathy comes across as insincere, such as a sequence when a young woman’s father has to be executed after getting bitten.

On the other hand, it’s as though both men needed each other to make this movie work. The wonky tone is somewhat interesting and both men value the art of escapism, working together hand in hand in that regard. It’s just interesting to see two entirely contrasting approaches to the same end goal. Not all movies feature a balance between director and screenwriter, but here that imbalance speaks more about the stubbornness of the creatives themselves. As we’ve seen with the trajectories of these men’s careers, they’re both very domineering forces, each with his own individual vision.

Dawn of the Dead can definitely be viewed as style over substance, yet also one of the more enjoyable examples of such. There’s a dishonesty to its depth in places, but also there’s a very earnest approach to its sensationalism, embracing it at all costs. Despite a head-scratching sequence involving a dog at the end of the 2nd act, which cheapens the plot and brings down the narrative integrity, the storyboarding in this film is solid overall, and only really hiccups in that one moment.

As an aside, there’s a store in the mall called Metropolis, which I found as an uncanny foretelling for where Snyder’s career would soon be heading. He even makes a note

to focus on the sign in a prolonged wide shot at one point.

Like the 1978 original, Snyder’s version was influential in its own way with its integration of action into horror and the conventions it innovates in order to do so. If anyone finds flaws in Romero’s version it’s probably because the movie has a lot of room to breathe and think. Snyder’s version is quite the opposite. Flaws go undetected because there’s so much going on. If Snyder and Gunn had tried to copy Romero’s film more closely—or closely at all—it would never have worked. Fortunately, they took very few notes, yet still came up with a brilliant storyboard in their own right. It’s the confident vision both men had of establishing a new angle and new identity that allows for this remake to retain its value, even all these years later. While not nearly as great as the 1978 predecessor, 2004’s Dawn of the Dead is very much justified in its existence.

Brehm

Many of us went to summer camp as a kid.

For some, it was the highlight of your childhood, but for others, it was more of a question about why our parents wanted us out of the house so badly. Camp has been wellrepresented in cinema for decades, but really started to take off in the late ‘70s, popularized by the 1979 Bill Murray vehicle Meatballs (emphasizing the highlights of camp), and in the horror genre with Friday the 13th the very next year (emphasizing perhaps some people’s disdain for camp), branding the nostalgic setting as either a comedy or a slasher, with very little deviation, other than a few exceptions. And we honestly don’t mind, because good camp movies aren’t necessarily about cinematic quality, rather how well they exude the ethos of a formative time in our lives.

There have been some great (and not so great) summer camp movies over the years, but here we’ll pick out some of our favorites.

Meatballs (1979)

It definitely didn’t invent the summer camp sub-genre, but Meatballs sure helped form the blueprint. Responsible for the summer camp craze of the 1980s, the film seems to be all-subplot, with most of the focus on showcasing life at camp while relying on Murray’s ad-lib in the process. If he weren’t cast in the lead role, we probably wouldn’t be talking much about this movie today. Early Bill Murray performances didn’t see the SNL alum grounded in reality often. Yet somehow his first significant role as head counselor Tripper saw him at his most down-to-earth for years to come. What sets this Canadian film apart from the countless that followed in

its footsteps is how it values sentiment, not only regarding the nostalgia that camp and the awkwardness of childhood will undoubtedly evoke years ahead, but in the way it approaches fond memories in general. Tripper’s Camp North Star doesn’t have the money of their cross-lake rival, Camp Mohawk, but the memories are just the same, if not more valuable. Especially at a young age, winning and losing doesn’t matter as much as personal and moral victories, which is what Meatballs really all about.

It definitely didn't invent the summer camp sub-genre, but Meatballs sure helped form the BLUEPRINT.

Friday the 13th

Sleepaway Camp (1983)

The horror movie/franchise that’s become synonymous with the slasher genre, Friday the 13th tells tales about a boy, Jason, who drowned in Camp Crystal Lake years ago after going unsupervised by sexcrazed counselors. The first in the series is a little raw compared to later installments, but features one heck of an ending—and Kevin Bacon. Also, there’s a live snake killed on camera. If you’re new to the series, the quality of the movies mostly ranges from pretty bad to just about average, but the films have definitely earned their cult status due to their gratuitous schlock that came to define the slasher sub-genre in the ‘80s, as well as the vast differences within the story lines between each installment. Perhaps the most notable film in the canon is Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, which focuses the most on the camp aspect, itself, and actually features campers for once, rather than revolving only on the counselors off-season. If you’re not as crazy about the later chapters of this series, trust me, you should at least stick it out until number six.

If Friday the 13th popularized the summer camp setting for slashers, Sleepaway Camp upended the whole ordeal. While carrying out the kills in basically the same manner as its contemporaries albeit with more dead space and a dip in suspense—this film has one of the best WTF horror twists of all time, which, along with its wicked sense of humor, helps set it apart from the pack. It feels like the entire movie was written around a great idea for an ending and built backwards from there. Nonetheless, if you’re a fan of slashers, you have to check out Sleepaway Camp for the finale alone.

Meatballs Part II (1984)

The sequel to the groundbreaking 1979 film is worth a mention just because it’s so different than its predecessor. Meatballs Part II simply copy-and-paste what worked so well from the first film—mostly because it knows it can’t. There’s no Bill Murray, so the talent is spread throughout the whole cast rather than relying on just one guy. This movie gets a bad rap because it’s nothing like the original, but honestly that’s what makes it so good. The summer camp welcomes newcomer counselor, Flash (John Mengatti), a felon who’s required to fulfill community service hours. There’s a side plot with an alien Muppet character who has to disguise himself as a real kid for the entire summer and it’s totally uncalled-for and amazing. A preWee’s Big Adventure Reubens and a preCourt John Larroquette are featured in ancillary roles. Neither actor can replace Murray, but are just as important to the comedic success of the movie—one that utilizes more subtle humor over broad slapstick. Don’t believe the negative press on this one and just go watch it for yourself.

Poison Ivy (1985)

Most of the movies on this list have some sort of gimmick, but what makes Poison Ivy so enjoyable is how well it works without one. Focusing more on the bonds we form at summer camp, NBC’s made-for-TV production features two of its own ‘80s stars: Nancy McKeon from The Facts of Life and Michael J. Fox from Family Ties. Fox would soon go on to star in Back to the Future and Teen Wolf later that year, but first TV audiences got to see the two beloved characters lock lips prior to the latter’s fame launching into the stratosphere. Fox plays a counselor/ladies man who falls for McKeon, who plays the camp’s nurse. She’s engaged, but that doesn’t stop him from trying to win her heart. The story also follows a group of 11-year-old bunkmates who begin the summer at odds, each struggling with his own personal insecurities, but growing to care about one another with the guidance of Fox, who changes over the course of the movie as well. Sounds sappy, but for anyone who grew up at camp, these are the sentiments we’ve held on to all these years later and the reasons

Summer Camp Nightmare (1987)

It sounds like it’s a horror film, but Summer Camp Nightmare is a political thriller with a summer camp backdrop, featuring some of the most realistic depictions of camp in regards to playful hijinks. However, in one moment the campers and counselors are engaged in harmless antics, when the next they’re dealing with some pretty heavy issues. The film takes the Lord of the Flies foundation and applies it to a group of kids who don’t like the philosophies of their counselors, so they decide to revolt and take over camp themselves. Led by a militant teenager, Franklin

(Charlie Stratton), the junior counselors and campers rise up against Mr. Warren (Chuck Conners), a holy roller director who enforces certain rules at the all-boys camp to keep everything appropriate, with the youngsters feeling like he’s robbing them of the “true camp experience.” As Franklin takes over, we see that an uprising isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, as he begins utilizing some of the same strategies Mr. Warren once wielded, but with different philosophies at their core. This forces him to ask himself, “Was it Mr. Warren’s tactics I had a problem with or the beliefs behind them?” There’s corruption, manipulation, and hunger for control on both sides; both maintaining strong individual philosophies. For one side, those philosophies are grounded in ethics, and for the other, they’re grounded in freedoms and pleasures.

Director Bert L. Dragin leaves it up to us to decide who’s right and wrong in this allegory, recognizing that the answer may not be that obvious.

Poison Ivy/Camp Cucamonga/NBCUniversal/ Summer Camp Nightmare/New Concorde

Camp Cucamonga

(1990)

There aren’t enough summer camp movies about the actual campers themselves, perhaps due to the lack of selection of good kid actors. This one fixes that issue by collecting already-proven talent. If you’re a fan of late ‘80s/’90s shameless nostalgia, look no further than Camp Cucamonga. Literally everybody who was attached to any TV show from that era (and others) is in this movie—at least it sure feels like it. Featuring the talents of Jaleel White (Family Matters), Candice Cameron (Full House), Danica McKellar and Josh Saviano (The Wonder Years), Sherman Hemsley (The Jeffersons), John Ratzenberger (Cheers), Brian Robbins (Head of the Class), Jennifer Aniston (Friends and literally everything), and a few others, this film feels like a fever dream (and that’s regardless of the Young MC knock-off music video randomly thrown in), but then you also wonder

how you’ve never even heard of it before. The made-for-TV movie revolves around the social hierarchy of camp. Just like high school, there’s a class system here as well. smartly shows all different sides of summer camp, because camp is more than just the kids and more than just the counselors—it’s the whole community. The film is a little dated, but we wouldn’t want it any other way.

[G]ood camp movies aren't necessarily about cinematic quality, but how well they exude the ethos of a

Most of the movies on this list have some sort of gimmick, but what makes Poison Ivy so enjoyable is how well it works without one.

Addams Family Values (1993)

A sequel to the 1991 comedy, Addams Family Values is superior in almost every way. Summer camp doesn’t take up the whole plot, but over the years, the outdoorsy setting has seemed to overshadow everything else that goes on in this movie. And for good reason. When their parents have a new baby, Wednesday and Pugsley are sent to a sleepaway camp full of rich blonde kids. Instantly outcast as weirdos, the drab Addams children decide to sabotage everything this establishment holds dear. Juxtaposing the Addams’ macabre and anarchic lifestyle with the perky upper-middle class being satirized here, the film doesn’t play its themes close to the vest. The comedy is carried by a deluge of clever puns, the franchise’s trademarked sardonic tone, and a cast, which, from top to bottom, is up there with some of the best in comedy history, stepping up their game from the previous installment with the inclusion of Joan Cusack as the black widow antagonist and David Krumholtz as Wednesday’s love interest. The longer you watch Addams Family Values, the more it begins to feel like a masterclass in subversive humor and well-placed campiness.

The longer you watch Addams Family Values, the more it begins to feel like a masterclass

Camp Nowhere

How much more ‘90s can you get than a movie about a summer camp run by kids? Being forced to attend camp by his parents, a boy named Mud invents his own realisticlooking camp with the help of his friends. Christopher Lloyd plays the town weirdo who acts as the camp’s director, assisting the kids in making the con look more believable. This is probably one of the only times where 14-year-olds are actually played by 14-year-olds, rather than twenty-somethings, but still, Camp Nowhere might have some trouble finding its audience, being caught between PG and PG-13 land. Similar to Home Alone, the movie presents

Ten years before his screenwriting (and directorial) debut in 2005 with The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Judd Apatow wrote the script for a children’s summer camp movie called Heavyweights. Working exclusively in television at the time, Apatow was new to the feature film world, showing some raw skills, but the potential was definitely there. Ben Stiller plays the owner of a fat camp where he spends every waking moment verbally abusing and starving the kids. Stiller acts strangely similar to his role as White Goodman in Dodgeball nearly a decade later, but this is where the actor first started showcasing his highly-idiosyncratic character skills. Heavyweights really speaks to those who feel like they’re looked down on in society because of their weight, especially kids—an intent that cannot be overstated. The relatable theme about finding your confidence in a world that doesn’t want you to win should be at the core of more tween movies, and given the satisfying conclusion that Apatow and company honor it with here.

And watching Camp Nowhere as an adult who misses his '90s childhood makes me wistful about having that very same mindset at that point in my life. It's a nice place to escape to.

BY ETHAN BREHM

after five installments of the friday the 13th franchise, fans were

growing a little impatient with the direction the series was going. Sure, the last film, A New Beginning, brought elements that were unique, taking risks with the story and the mythology within the universe. However, the execution wasn’t really there. Scenes slogged by and the tone took itself a little too seriously, allowing for some unintentional self-parody along the way. There was also the little omission of a certain hockey-mask-wearing killer named Jason Voorhees. Fans weren’t happy and the producers had to panic to keep things fresh, so they took an extra year before releasing a sixth movie in 1986 (before that, they usually came out with one per year) to really lock in a solid story with a fresh perspective.

Utilizing a more original tone and keeping it consistent throughout, Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives toys with meta-humor and self-

record to say that Jason Lives was a major influence when penning the script for his own groundbreaking film Scream. Avoiding most of the annoying horror tropes, this Friday the 13th movie doesn’t rely on unintentional campiness or a comic relief character for the source of its humor. Instead it lets the levity happen naturally through the witty script and clever filmmaking.

Tommy Jarvis (Thom Mathews), the main character from the previous movie and killer of masked murderer Jason Voorhees in Part IV, returns to the cemetery where Jason is buried to exhume his body and essentially cremate it so that he can escape the hallucinations that haunt him everywhere he goes. After stabbing his corpse with a metal fence post,

lightning strikes the top of it, which brings Jason back to life. But this time he’s invincible and stronger than ever.

Tommy escapes, but when he tells the local sheriff (David Kagen) that Jason is back from the dead, he’s essentially laughed at and accused of being crazy, which gets him locked in a jail cell (?). The sheriff’s daughter, Megan (Jennifer Cooke), is a counselor at the nearby summer camp, now renamed Camp Forest Green (née Camp Crystal Lake), and seems to have a fondness for Tommy. Megan and her friends were all told that the Jason murders were an urban legend, but she believes Tommy’s story and helps him escape to put an end to the madness. Meanwhile, the sheriff

Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives/Paramount

Pictures/Warner Bros.

been committing the recent murders around town.

Both written and directed by Tom McLoughlin, Jason Lives is the first in the series where the director and writer are the same person (A New Beginning had Danny Steinmann credited as one of three writers, and he didn’t come up with the story), so the vision is cohesive all the way through. With a concept that possesses the intent and clarity of its predecessor, this installment compliments that with a more realized and focused execution. The way McLoughlin crafts each scene and allows the camera to move is brilliant, and the way he drives the plot is masterful. If not for mediation by the studio, this would have ultimately been a true product of an auteur--something rare within ‘80s horror, let alone the slasher genre.

There’s something to be said about the continuity of bringing Tommy back once more as the main character. It’s the kind of through line that previous installments had never really tried out, but actually brings a uniformity to the lore of the film universe. McLoughlin could have very easily established a clean slate with his fresh story. After all, the franchise had become exhausted by that point. However, the filmmaker not only incorporated his vision ’s history, but did so with a specificity that utilized the hero from the previous two

brand new start without rebooting anything. All it does is reveal the possibilities.

Echoing the Gothic horror films from Universal in the 1930s with scenes in a foggy cemetery and religious undertones, McLoughlin establishes a deliberate ambiance to go along with the campy schlock that would be paired with it, almost as if the filmmaker were fulfilling some sort of fever dream for a slasher-era Frankenstein (equipped with a synth-laden theme song by Alice Cooper).

Also, it’s a small plus, but Jason Lives actually feels like a summer camp movie this time around—the only one that would end up having such a claim. In the past, the stories have been set at or nearby Camp

Crystal Lake, but never take place while camp is in session. For once we see the kids, interacting with the counselors and becoming an integral part of the story.

Jason Lives isn’t just about the kills and how they’re accomplished; they don’t just occur as a string of blunt massacres, but with a suspense evoked leading up to each one. At this point in the series, we’ve become all but numb to the violence and need something else. Unfortunately later films would attempt to cure this numbness by simply changing the setting to something like outer space or Manhattan (or a houseboat). Prior to Part VI, the murders were not only losing their creativity, but their impact. However here, McLoughlin focuses more on creating the scares from the build-up rather than the actual physical acts themselves, and the result makes our skin crawl at an all-time maximum. The kills mostly happen off-camera, but the director

malignant

DIRECTED BY: James Wan / CAST: Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young

If anyone today can hold the title of “Master of Horror,” it’s James Wan. Usually opting for suspense over surprise, the director’s understanding of the genre and why horror resonates with audiences is what’s made him so prolific over the last two decades. His latest film Malignant is both a master class in suspense and what happens when you give a genius creative control.

Wan gives us just enough during the opening sequence, set in 1993, that we’re never truly left in the dark, but still only able to guess at what the story is truly about. Doctors at an institution are operating on a patient named Gabriel, and through a visual montage we can surmise that he’s been severed from another person.

28 years later, we see Madison (Annabelle Wallis), a pregnant mother who’s apparently had several miscarriages. She gets in a fight with her husband, Derek (Jake Abel), resulting in him throwing her against

the wall and her head bleeding. Later that night, a dark figure savagely murders Derek and leaves Madison badly injured.

Just like many of his horror movies, Wan incorporates detectives into his story. When officers Shaw (George Young) and Moss (Michole Briana White) investigate the crime, it’s found that there was no forced entry. Moss suspects that Madison killed her husband, but Shaw is much more nonplussed. Shaw and Moss will be fan favorites: Young serves as the perfect “comfort cop” as so many have done before him, whether it be Mark Ruffalo in Collateral or Beau Starr in Halloween 4 and 5. Opposite of him, Moss is the comedic relief (yes, there’s a comedic relief) with lines such as, “So I’m putting out a BOLO on Sloth from The Goonies?”

But something weird is definitely going on, and as the murders pile up, Madison is able to witness all of them as though she’s in the room herself. However, she undergoes

paralysis during each spell, and when it’s over she finds herself in her own bed.

Painted like an invisible friend story, Malignant keeps the surprises coming. With his latest film, Wan invokes stylings and tones of horror classics, forming an amalgamation to undergird his own story. Never summoning actual elements outright, the director hints at the likes of A Nightmare on Elm Street, Black Christmas, the 1985 horror-

Malignant/Warner Bros./James Wan

towards that same direction, unbroken, and as though we’re on a mirrored axis from the character. This is the kind of perspective subversion that only guys like Wan and Sam Raimi play around with. Other times, Wan almost obsessively shows us his characters’ sixes during the dark and lonely moments when we know the killer is nearby—the rearview aspect that’s typically kept from the audience in order to reserve a tool for scares.

comedy House, and even, obscurely enough, Sorority House Massacre (?). But Malignant is completely original, totally existing in this present day and never falling into homage of any sort.

Scripted by Akela Cooper, based on a story she wrote along with Wan and Ingrid Bisu, the premise is beautifully absurd, and how it develops is even weirder. But Wan always seems to have an awareness and acceptance of this, opening up his ability to have a lot of fun with his story. Tinged with the same dark humor that trickles out of even the most straightforward retro horror movies, the director magically nails the tone he’s going for, while never fully abandoning the austerity of more modern films.

Few filmmakers understand the value of peripheral vision when it comes to perspective, and here Wan is unleashed behind the CAMERA to craft a visual work of art exactly how he’s envisioned it.

Few filmmakers understand the value of peripheral vision when it comes to perspective, and here Wan is unleashed behind the camera, with DP Michael Burgess and editor Kirk Morri, to craft a visual work of art exactly how he’s envisioned it. The director has a magical way of establishing space and intentionally blurs the line between objective and subjective POV, and yet still manages to conjure suspense—and lots of it. He allows for even the more familiar moments to feel fresh, only a reminder of any director’s role in a finished product and why the idea of a similar story told several different times can be, not only justified, but a moot point if executed well.

Here, the kinesis of the camera often harnesses the film’s themes of reflection and polarity. The way the camera swings and pans is often backwards from how it’s usually done in movies. For instance, when a character turns to look from one direction to the next, our vantage point pivots a full 180 degrees

Malignant won’t be as scary as, say, The Conjuring or Dead Silence—two of Wan’s more terrifying entries. More along the lines of his groundbreaking debut, Saw, Malignant demonstrates more of the neo-slasher tendencies that the director helped invent. The jump scares are few and far between, and never tarnished with cheap sound blasts, but the film is conceptually horrifying and unsettling even when it’s not necessarily feeding our nightmares.

Malignant is not only a visual wonder but a showcase of an expansive imagination. Even when its second act becomes a little bit too splayed out, the plot funnels into something amazingly twisted—the work of a master director mastering his craft and showing us how the horror genre will always keep evolving, as long as there are still people like him behind the camera.

nightbooks

There’s a scene about 35 minutes into Nightbooks where the two main characters, who are trapped inside of an enchanted apartment, have a mishap inside of a mystical nursery. An evil plant hatches creatures called “shredders,” with long thorns for claws and skulls for faces. They attack our two young leads, Alex and Yazmin, who are now panicking trying to destroy them. This sequence, apropos of nothing before or after, gets randomly dropped in the middle of the film, never scary because we have no reference point or reason to care. Yet this scene in this room, which we only visit once, is essentially the only time we get to explore this magical abode outside of the three main rooms.

Nightbooks is based on a children’s lit novel by J.A. White, and director David Yarovesky, along with his screenwriters Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis, often appears to be a little too well-guided by the source story, just obligatorily tossing in key

details with very little curation. While his visual imagination yields pleasing results, the plot almost never takes us anywhere that would expand this fascinating locale. And when it does, there’s nothing to be solved there and no connection to the rest of the film.

At the beginning, we’re launched into the story right away as a young boy named Alex (Winslow Fegley) sits in his room, which is covered in horror movie posters, and overhears his parents arguing about how he’s not normal. Alex loves to write

scary stories, but also longs to be accepted by his peers who think he’s weird. And so, he sneaks out of his apartment and heads down to the basement furnace to burn his notebook of stories.

As he steps out of the elevator, he’s lured into a mysterious apartment that’s playing the 1987 film The Lost Boys on a cathode ray television. He takes a bite of a pumpkin pie sitting on a table, which turns out to be enchanted by an evil witch. The witch (Krysten Ritter) informs him

DIRECTED BY: David Yarovesky / CAST: Winslow Fegley, Lidya Jewett, Krysten Ritter

Forgoing certain gruesome opportunities in the early going, the director eases his young audience into the terror as they go ALONG.

that he’s now a prisoner tasked with telling her scary stories indefinitely. He meets a young servant named Yazmin (Lidya Jewett) who fills him in on all the requisite details of his new home. She shows him to the massive library which contains hundreds of thousands of books and endless spiral staircases that make their way up to the glass roof, subliminally hitting us with the Beauty and the Beast metaphor very quickly.

Rooted in classic horror literature, with plenty of nods to Brothers Grimm and the like, Nightbooks also stands firm in its more modern roots of the Universal monster movies and mood horror from the ‘80s onward. Yarovesky seems to be going for mood horror himself, and succeeds in crafting a film with evocative production design and a tasty color palette. Forgoing certain gruesome opportunities in the early going, the director eases his young audience into the terror as they go along, but later on gifts us with one of the most

effed-up moments I’ve ever seen in a children’s horror film.

Our villain, known as the Witch, is more verbally abusive than she is evil—like Kathy Bates in Misery, in more ways than one. But as we eventually find out, she’s turned several of her past young residents into tiny dolls that she keeps on a bookshelf. Upon hearing of this, we can’t help but wish that we had seen her cast one of these spells early on to establish some sort of repercussion for our protagonists.

Ritter herself seems to be a little too aware that she’s in a movie for kids, her eyebrows bouncy and her cadence theatrically emotive, never truly becoming the evil character that she’s supposed to be. The transparent dialogue doesn’t help, nor does the director who continuously trades in subtlety for verbal elucidation.

Luckily, the film has some surprises up its sleeve. The last 30 minutes more than make up for the meandering and haphazard middle act. Just like its unpredictable apartment, the plot twists and turns with layers to unwrap all the way to the end. A great intro horror movie for kids and tweens, Nightbooks may have a difficult time hiding its target audience, but it can still be a lot of fun for older viewers as well, despite itself.

oxygen

DIRECTED BY: Alexandre Aja / CAST: Mélanie Laurent, Mathieu Amalric, Malik Zidi

The French-American co-production Oxygen is a containment thriller unlike any you’ve seen before (think Buried or Frozen) in that it has a hard sci-fi foundation. Like basically every sci-fi movie, it invents its own rules and resources, and proceeds to task the character with figuring out how to survive using exactly what she’s been given. But where most sci-fi movies (and movies in general) have the luxury of several moving parts—and characters—to distract

the audience and convince us of some sense of plausibility, Oxygen takes place in a singular location with a single person being trapped, and yet the magic, despite the limited space, is how the audience still never questions the puppetry behind it.

A woman (Mélanie Laurent) wakes up locked inside of a cryogenic chamber with no memory of who she is or why she’s there. She’s informed by an advanced A.I. named M.I.L.O. (Mathieu Amalric) that there’s been a problem and her oxygen levels are plummeting. With little time remaining before she suffocates inside, the woman, who we find out is named Liz, must go through all the possible thoughts and emotions about her scenario while simultaneously problem solving how to get out.

Fortunately the script by Christie LeBlanc focuses not only on Liz’s survival, but also in cracking the mystery of how she got there in the

first place. Both goals draw closer and closer together until becoming symbiotic by the end, both informing one another in order to solve the problem, culminating in a clever and unique conclusion.

The way the exposition unfolds and evolves throughout the film displays a great deal of focus and patience by our director Alexandre Aja. Every time we think we know what’s happening, the plot makes a shift. We experience the deduction

Oxygen

with our protagonist, typically coming to the same conclusions as she does, piecing together clues in our heads simultaneously with her, often with highly chilling results.

The filmmaker drops sneaky, almost subliminal symbolism along the way, such as the celestial aesthetic of the computer background over our protagonist’s head, or the way her hand, initially breaking free of her cocoon, looks like the outline of a rat trying to escape.

The tendency of a movie like this is to have your singular actor over-talk, especially to themselves. Aja does just that, giving his lead a tad bit too much dialogue. The very fact that she’s inside of a cryogenic chamber is stressful enough, we don’t need

every opportunity for deliberation to conjure up suspense.

While it’s not a deal breaker, the weak point of the film is Liz herself. She’s not an unlikable protagonist, and we’re definitely rooting for her, but her unwarranted dilly-dallying and occasional adamant refusal of other people’s help—especially as the clock is ticking—is often unrealistic, the latter bordering on petulant. Liz has access to a phone as one of M.I.L.O.’s capabilities, and at one point a woman tries to give her important information, but Liz literally hangs up on her out of frustration. She simply doesn’t act with the desperation of someone who needs to know answers, especially in a hurry.

Fortunately our lead actress still keeps us invested through her compelling emotional journey. Laurent reacts to her faceless castmates as though they’re really there. Even the memories she recalls feel like they’re actually playing out inside her head as she believably responds to them with compelling emotion and epiphany. Simply put, the actress never once makes us question that what we’re seeing isn’t actually being experienced by her, even when her character is sometimes written otherwise.

Aja does a great job of giving us the same vantage point as Liz throughout the film, even to a fault. While the plethora of flashbacks can be a turnoff as they disrupt the tone at times, we’re never experiencing anything that she wouldn’t be experiencing. The memories play an important role in the story and conveying the levels of what she remembers. This is more than just a tool to expand beyond the

movie’s singular location. Instead, the director still finds other ways to broaden his confines, using built-in parameters and rules to apply an immense magnitude and weight to the ostensibly limited space. Likewise, our level of hope ebbs and flows with Liz. We honestly never know how this story is going to end, even after we’re given the final twist.

The film keeps its themes mostly implicit, although speaking loudly of the instinct to stay alive even for a person who has every excuse not to, and even if they don’t have any connection to life at all. Liz is determined to survive despite not knowing who she is or what her past entailed, or if her life has any perceived value. The mere idea that she exists gives her value and the very reality of existing is enough to keep her going.

The unsung star of this film is the musical score by composer ROB, who uses slow, ethereal tones to create an ambient atmosphere. The epic choral wailings reflect the dark sadness that looms over the picture, especially looking back after it’s over, and establish an intentional monotony of sorts, building slowly over the course of the film, transforming and adding color as the tension builds. This soundtrack levels up every aspect of the film and equals the sprawling trajectory.

Oxygen is an interesting film, reminiscent of the type of hard science fiction movies you would have found on the Sci-Fi Channel in the late ‘90s. Incredibly tense, weird, technical, slightly snarky, and at times hard to watch, this containment film makes up its own rules and becomes enjoyable because of them.

Laurent reacts to her faceless castmates as though they’re really there.

a quiet place ii

DIRECTED BY: John Krasinski / CAST: Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Cillian Murphy

2018’s A Quiet Place surprised many of us. The horror genre was given yet another worthy entry, by following conventions all the while taking away one crucial element: the scream. Perhaps even more surprising was John Krasinski’s talent, not just as a star, but as a writer and director. Krasinski returns three years later with his follow up.

Like the best sequels, A Quiet Place Part II is able to exude the same exact spirit of the original

while taking its story into a logical direction. Krasinski’s biggest accomplishment here is making two films that, if played back to back, feel like one continuous story. Of course, this latest installment expands upon the post-apocalyptic world that the Abbott family has been living in for about a year and a half.

The film opens up on Day 1, when a fireball crashes on Earth as the Abbotts are attending the Little League baseball game of their son, Marcus (Noah Jupe). The game gets halted just as he steps up to bat, and chaos ensues.

This 12-minute opening sequence shows us what Krasinski can do when the concept gets more generalized. For this short period, we’re not experiencing the slow, contemplative tone of the first film, but that of a disaster movie; an alien invasion. If Krasinski put on display his keen attention to detail the first time around, here he shows us

his range and what he can do with absolute mayhem.

The director ensures that every step of the way is just as thoughtful and meaningful, yet through wellcomposed action instead of insidious suspense. People run amok in the streets and many get snatched up by these giant, blind alien creatures. The fluid movement of the camera makes these gruesome deaths look like ballet, much like they were in the first film. But here in this opening act, there’s a lot more of it at once.

There’s one moment that’s

particularly impressive where Emily Blunt’s character, Evelyn Abbott, attempts to flee with her two sons in her station wagon, dodging pedestrians in the street, as well as the aliens who are using their sense of hearing to hunt their victims. We get a POV shot inside the car as it tries to evade a runaway bus, and it’s one of the most immersive

discovered that the high-pitch frequency made from her hearing aid can incapacitate these aliens long enough to get away or shoot them in the head. They soon encounter a family friend, Emmett (Cillian Murphy), who’s become hardened following the death of his entire family. He insists that the Abbotts leave, but Evelyn begs him for his help. Meanwhile, Marcus discovers a repeated radio broadcast of Bobby Darin’s “Beyond the Sea,” which Regan figures out is a message from an island not far off the coast.

A Quiet Place Part II is another beautiful example of modern visual storytelling at its finest. Krasinski continues to push the limits of linear narrative capabilities all while making us feel safe in his hands and giving us an unpredictable story that unfolds naturally. Late in the second act, there’s a trio of simultaneous sequences that play out at once, and it’s the first time in either movie where he does, in fact, make us question the direction of the film. However, the ultimate payoff at the end is unbelievably rewarding and, dare I say it, Coppola-esque.

It all leads to a wonderful finale that mirrors and bookends the beginning, just in case anyone thought that the opening scene was

somehow out of place. If anything, A Quiet Place Part II shows us how this film universe is capable of evolving beyond the ostensibly, and wonderfully, limited premise of the first movie, taking us into amazing new directions, even if we never realized we wanted to go there. What Krasinski has done is exactly what studios and directors aim to do by filming some of their big budget blockbusters back to back, but are seldom successful in bringing congruity while also giving each film an identity of its own.

experiences I’ve ever had in an invasion/disaster movie.

After the 12 minutes are over, we’re all caught up to the events of the previous film. It’s Day 474 and the Abbott family, now consisting of Evelyn, Marcus, Regan (Millicent Simmonds), and their newborn baby, packs up their belongings and ventures out to find more humans following the death of their patriarch, Lee (Krasinski), at the end of the last movie.

Regan, who is deaf, has also

All four stars are excellent in their own right. Simmonds and Jupe get even more of a chance to show their evolution as both confident and vulnerable performers, with veterans Blunt and Murphy fulfilling the final two necessary quadrants of this dynamic—all four of their characters required to unlock something inside of them, each discovering his or her own unique role in their survival, whether together or miles apart.

“Silence is not enough.” Has a tagline for a sequel ever been more true? It not only encapsulates the reason for the film to exist, but provokes a curiosity that makes us desperate to know more. Maybe not quite as “perfect” as its predecessor, A Quiet Place Part II is still the perfect sequel, and proof that the first was no fluke.

The fluid movement of the camera makes these gruesome deaths look like ballet, much like they were in the first film. But here in this opening act, there’s a lot more of it at once.

werewolves within

DIRECTED BY: Josh Ruben / CAST: Sam Richardson, Milana Vayntrub, George Basil

A year after the release of his feature-length debut, Scare Me, director Josh Ruben follows up with yet another horror-comedy in Werewolves Within, based on the video game of the same name. Unlike most werewolf movies, this one doesn’t grapple with the issue of actually becoming a werewolf, but rather the terror that builds up in a small town whose people try to figure out which one of them is responsible for viciously murdering their neighbors each full moon.

Tensions in Beaverfield, Vermont are already high to begin with. The town, which apparently from this movie only consists of about ten people, is divided on whether or not a new pipeline should be built—an idea proposed by local businessman Sam Parker (Wayne Duvall).

Social discourse is somewhat of a foreign concept to park ranger Finn Wheeler (Sam Richardson), who’s just gotten reassigned to Beaverfield. He’s a people-pleaser

and seems totally averse to any sort of confrontation. He becomes fast friends with mail carrier Cecily (Milana Vayntrub), who shows him around the town and introduces him to all of the local weirdos.

After the resident yenta’s dog gets eaten, nearly a dozen townspeople gather at the local inn, where they all decide to take shelter for the night and arm themselves with pistols. After the next few attacks, a visiting environmentalist comes to the conclusion that the animal is, in fact, a werewolf. But since the attacks are now coming from inside the inn, the people must figure out who the perpetrator actually is.

It’s hard to make a good werewolf movie, perhaps because the concept relies so heavily on makeup and/ or special effects and how much the audience will buy into that as the source of their visual frights. However, Ruben seems to have found an alternative route here by

leaning into the mystery element more than the horror one. And it works!

The director relies a lot on suspense over actual scares, but somehow manages to make this seem like a plus for a movie that promises werewolves (plural). Rather than just allowing his audience to feel robbed of these visual horror moments, he acknowledges that these elements may very well detract from the comedy. The

suspense, however, allows for them both to exist simultaneously.

Werewolves Within finds both comedy and suspense through clever direction and editing by Ruben and Brett W. Bachman, respectively. The unique and odd tone is cultivated through these eccentric—and incompatible—personalities who all help create the medley of comedic styles. Richardson and Vayntrub are both that awkward, overlyobservational individuals who seem to lack social skills, while simultaneously having a wry wit that would say otherwise. George Basil and Sarah Burns play the redneck hillbilly couple Marcus and Gwen. Basil is a take on the brash, smartdumb Jay from Kevin Smith’s View Askewniverse movies, but the actor is more controlled and makes his scripted lines feel perfectly offthe-cuff. Harvey Guillén plays the flamboyant Joaquim (“with an ‘m’”) who is relentlessly PC-conscious. Add in the fact that the characters are all coming from opposite sides of the political spectrum, and you get a recipe for hilarious quarrels.

“All I had to do was plant a tiny little doggy’s collar and spread a couple rumors. Everyone else just took care of themselves with their fear and greed and their own petty nature,” says the culprit once they’re revealed. These people are living with a werewolf inside the walls of this hotel, and yet, they’re more concerned with aggressively pointing the finger towards the one

responsible than they are actually worried about their own safety—no doubt a conscious decision made by Ruben and his screenwriter Mishna Wolff, who’ve decided to speak on the division that’s currently running rampant in our society and how that only makes solving problems even more difficult.

However, for as much as the film preaches understanding from both sides, it does little to empathize with one particular side of the line. Even its ostensibly nonpartisan protagonist gives his two cents indiscreetly. Trying so very hard to say something brave, the film is still very obviously coded towards one side over the other.

Ruben makes sure to throw in plenty of red herrings—some clever, but others a little cheap. There are moments when our actually begins to question if there is even a werewolf to begin with. The director

plays with our perspective in order to intentionally mislead us at times, even if it doesn’t make much sense in hindsight.

Despite its foibles, Werewolves Within might be the best werewolf movie in at least 20 years. Placing all the victims inside mostly one location helps to redirect the focus on people’s reactions more so than the creature itself. As the film recognizes, it’s the citizens of Beaverfield who are the most interesting—not the fact that there’s a werewolf. Although we wish its commentary was a little more committed, Ruben’s movie still has some interesting things to say about humans and our willingness, not to conform, but to listen and understand. And better yet, if you can have an effect on the most aggressively stubborn and narrowminded person in a town that’s filled with them, then perhaps there is still hope.

RATHER THAN JUST ALLOWING HIS AUDIENCE TO FEEL ROBBED OF THESE VISUAL HORROR MOMENTS, HE acknowledges that these elements may very well detract from the comedy. The suspense, however, allows for THEM BOTH to exist simultaneously.

fear street part two: 1978

If there’s one thing a lot of ‘80s horror fails to execute well it’s the presentation of a story’s lore along with its action. This is why many sequels, which rely and build upon the lore established in the first film— relieved of that onus themselves— fare much better at freely telling their stories (if the right directors are involved) since they no longer have to find ways to dole out exposition and backstory.

Fear Street Part Two: 1978 is a perfect example of this benefit, which happens to be shared by several of the best installments of the most famous horror franchises ever. The story of 17th century witch, Sarah Fier, and how she continues to haunt the town of Shadyside was explained in thorough detail in Part One: 1994, often at the expense of that movie’s momentum. But the sequel mostly uses the details of this backstory as context rather than relying on it as a tool for revelation.

The film opens up still in 1994, with Deena (Kiana Madeira) and Josh (Benjamin Flores Jr.) visiting Christine Berman (Gillian Jacobs), a survivor of the 1978 massacre at Camp Nightwing where a man with a machete hacked up several counselors and campers. Deena and Josh bring a possessed Sam (Olivia Scott Welch) to Christine’s house

and tie her up as they listen to the woman’s story from 16 years prior.

In an ongoing flashback, we see her and her sister during their days at Camp Nightwing. Director and co-writer Leigh Janiak makes sure not to tell us which of the two girls is Christine until the very end. Ziggy Berman (Sadie Sink) is a hipster camper tormented by bullies who claim that she’s a witch, while her goody-two-shoes counselor sister, Cindy (Emily Rudd), tries to reel in everyone around her, including Ziggy, who nearly gets kicked out of camp. However, when the camp nurse goes crazy and hits Cindy’s boyfriend Tommy (McCabe Slye) on the head, he soon gets possessed by the spirit of Sarah Fier and starts murdering people at camp.

Following the release of 1980’s iconic slasher Friday the 13th, the next few years were filled with its fair share of copycats. However, rarely did we see the kind of campwide

DIRECTED BY: Leigh Janiak / CAST: Sadie Sink, Emily Rudd, Ryan Simpkins

panic that we experience in Fear Street Part Two—and that includes Friday the 13th itself (1983’s Sleepaway Camp comes to mind as one that successfully brings the chaos to a widespread level). But here, the focus is less on the episodic kills than it is on uniting that panic and lore simultaneously, which it does very well.

Taking more style notes from Wet Hot American Summer than Friday the 13th, Janiak makes sure to focus

Neither Cindy nor Ziggy become empowered by their vices, but pitied because of them. Whereas our hero from the first film is made to be so unapologetic with her flaws that we find no need to sympathize with her.

on this summer camp atmosphere, especially early on when we actually step foot in the mess hall and learn about the camp dynamic.

With no time to relax, Janiak, who directs all three Fear Street installments, is actually forced to blend her drama much better with her terror this time around, rather than simply alternating between the two. Characters still have plenty of time to chitchat, but not usually at implausible moments.

Both of the emotionally troubled protagonists in this sequel are much more likable than the ones in Part One. Neither Cindy nor Ziggy become empowered by their vices, but pitied because of them. Whereas our hero from the first film is made to be so unapologetic with her flaws that we find no need to sympathize with her. Sink and Rudd find the pocket for their dual final girl roles, despite their discordant characters never getting fleshed out any further than predictable archetypes. Yet, unlike 1994, these are still personalities unpinned to modern sociabilities and casual flippancy. Everyone in 1978 is very obviously going through something traumatizing, with the proper emotional responses that follow— nothing like the lightheartedness during the denouement of 1994 when our protagonists find time to crack jokes after witnessing the absolute slaughtering of their friends.

Onlookers may note that Part Two rarely adds to the story of Sarah Fier. However, it simply serves to expand the world of Shadyside and offers a fun story within that world that’s totally adjacent from that of the first. Taking place years before the events of Part One, featuring basically none

of the characters, the sequel keeps itself relatively detached from its predecessor. However, there is one character in both films (along with the third) that ends up getting more nuance added to his story.

Fear Street Part Two: 1978 doesn’t have the same gruesome detail as Part One, but is a much better movie thanks to likable characters and a smoother narrative. Not quite separating itself from the films that inspired it, this summer camp slasher carries the torch well enough that it increases even more our expectations for Part Three.

By Galaxy

Daryl dixon (Portrayed by Norman Reedus)

Daryl is Merle’s younger brother. A Southern redneck with a tough background, Daryl is a survivalist. At first he held hostility towards the Atlanta group, but with the passage of time, he quickly becomes one of Rick’s closest confidantes and a leader within the group. Daryl is a skilled hunter and a former recruiter for Alexandria.  Daryl is Rick’s best friend, right-hand man and one of the most beloved people. He’s the man anyone can count on.

Rick is a former sheriff’s deputy from King County in Atlanta, Georgia and in our hearts always will be the main protagonist of the series. He is often described as smart, just, and a good friend, but with his own set of flaws. He is the former leader of the rebuilt Alexandria and ready for anything throughout the series. Rick’s son was Carl, now deceased and daughter is Judith. He was the romantic partner of Michonne.

Glenn is a former pizza delivery boy from Atlanta who knows every shortcut in Atlanta. Glenn saves Rick’s life at the beginning of the outbreak and helps him find his wife Lori and son Carl. As time goes by, Glenn becomes a very important member of the group as well as a supply courier in his experience of knowing the streets. He meets Maggie; the two fall in love and marry. Together, they manage to pass many hard tests.

maggie greene

Maggie is Glenn’s widow, a mother figure to Enid and the former leader of the Hilltop. She is mother to her and Glenn’s child, Hershel. She is at odds with Rick over sparing the life of Negan, the former leader of the Saviors.

Michonne is a katanawielding warrior, absolute badass and Rick’s former romantic partner. She is also adoptive mother to Judith and mother to her and Rick’s child. She is ultra reliable and respected by all.

carol peletier (portrayed by Melissa McBride)

Carol was once a meek housewife turned powerhouse. She is a survivor who has overcome several traumas and is a skilled and ingenious fighter. She is also ex-wife to Ezekiel. Carol’s arc has been described as a “hero’s journey” having made many difficult decisions in order to survive.

rick grimes (Portrayed by Andrew Lincoln)

glenn rhee (Portrayed by Steven Yeun)

(Portrayed by Lauren Cohan)

michonne (Portrayed by Dania Gurura)

rosita espinosa (Portrayed by Christian Serratos)

Rosita is a pragmatic member of the group who is mother to her and Siddiq’s child. She is also in a relationship with Gabriel.

aaron (Portrayed by Ross Marquand)

Aaron is a former recruiter from Alexandria who lost his boyfriend Eric during the war and his arm in an accident. He now raises his adoptive daughter, Gracie.

eugene porter (Portrayed by Josh McDermitt)

Eugene is an intelligent survivor who has overcome his fear of walkers. He has been on both sides of the fence but was instrumental in defeating the Saviors and won back the group’s trust. He also fell deeply in love with Rosita.

negan (Portrayed by Jeffrey Dean Morgan)

Negan is the reformed former leader of the Saviors who was until recently incarcerated at Alexandria for many years. He formed a parental bond with Michonne’s adoptive daughter, Judith. Negan is a total badass.

gabriel stokes (Portrayed by Seth Gilliam)

Gabriel is a priest and head of the council of Alexandria who has reconciled his beliefs with what needs to be done to survive. He is in a relationship with Rosita.

alpha (Portrayed by Samantha Morton)

Alpha is the leader of the Whisperers, a mysterious group of survivors who wear the skins of walkers to mask their presence and the main antagonist of the current season.

king ezekiel (Portrayed by Khary Payton)

Like Carol, Ezekiel is still recovering from the loss of their son. Ezekiel wasn’t given much time to grieve, as he had to watch the Kingdom fall in the end of season 9. While the Kingdom itself has been destroyed, the people of the Kingdom live on, which could give Ezekiel a reason to keep fighting.

The Walking Dead/AMC

Horror Movies Of All Time

This Alfred Hitchcock classic set the tone for every scary movie that followed. It stars a female traveler, a creepy motel, and a young man with an odd obsession with his mother—you can see where this is going.

Conjuring (2013)

What makes The Conjuring particularly freaky is that it was based on (purportedly) true events. The supernatural horror flick follows two “paranormal investigators” helping a family living in a haunted mansion.

(2004)

A classic early 2000s low budget horror flick, Saw is yet another serial killerfocused scary movie.

men find themselves trapped in a psychopath’s lair, needing to escape before the worst occurs.

This Jordan Peelewritten and directed feature explores the dark underbelly of U.S. racial dynamics. When a white woman brings her black boyfriend home to meet her family, the innocent weekend trip quickly turns sour (to say the least).

The movie that launched an entire genre of “found footage” film, Paranormal is now horror canon. Cameras throughout a home capture footage of— you guessed—paranormal activity.

(2019) Midsommar

Of the same ilk as Get Out (and also written and directed by Jordan Peele), Us covers childhood trauma, creepy doppelgängers, and murder. Plus, Lupita Nyong’o plays the lead role.

Before she was Amy March, Florence Pugh starred in this folk horror film. In Midsommar, a group of unsuspecting friends journey to Sweden, only to find themselves in the clutches of a sacrificial pagan cult.

Starring Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, this movie will surely give you your serial killer/ psychopath fix. Hint: it’s not actually about lambs.

(1960) Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Paranormal

Play (1998)

Play launched the famed “Chucky” character, a creepy doll-turnedmurderer. This slasher was such a success that it spawned five sequels.

Johnny!” The Shining is a horror film for the ages. Produced and directed by Stanley

and starring Jack Nicholson, the movie charts Jack Torrence (Nicholson)’s descent into pure madness.

Exorcist (1973)

suspect that the

is trapped inside a loved one? Me neither. But that’s the premise of The Exorcist, one of the most profitable horror movies of all time.

young, thriving New York City couple is expecting their first child, but everything is not as joyous as it seems. The pair moves into an ominous building and Rosemary’s pregnancy takes a dark turn.

(1978)

you’re watching horror movies in honor of that spooky holiday in October, look no further than the aptly named Halloween.

1970s slasher film follows a young mental patient/murderer who returns to his small town, seeking revenge.

the 13th (1980)

slasher movie, Friday the 13th is about a group of teenage summer camp counselors being hunted one by one by a mysterious murderer. Be warned: things get gory.

Man (2020)

on the 1897 H. G. Wells novel, The Invisible Man stars Elisabeth Moss as a woman trapped in an abusive relationship. When her boyfriend suddenly dies, Moss’s character Cecilia knows that his loose ends are far from tied.

Ring (2002)

A remake of a cult favorite Japanese horror flick, The Ring is not for the faint of heart. The movie revolves around a cursed video tape that kills anyone who watches it. That might not sound like the scariest premise you’ve ever heard but trust us, leave a light on while watching this.

Remember that whole scary clown trend a few years back? Yeah, this was the cause. Based on a Stephen King novel, this movie will make you think twice about hiring a clown for your kid’s next birthday party.

Want another possessed child feature? You’re in luck—Insidious nails that genre. Better yet, there are four films in the franchise

you can really stay on theme.

Few movies have made as large of a mark on the horror genre as The Blair Witch Project. The movie treats its events as truth, and what the viewer sees, supposedly, is the found footage the main characters left behind (dun dun dun).

This dystopian feature caused quite the stir at the time of its release. The movie imagines a version of the United States where, for 12 hours at a time, all crime is legal. You can see how things could go terribly wrong.

The movie takes place entirely on a laptop screen in this rather unorthodox horror film about a group of high schoolers who are haunted by their deceased friend. When six friends— Blaire, Mitch, Jess, Ken, Adam, and Val— join a group skype call.

In a post-apocalyptic world where an unknown and invisible entity drives people to suicide, a pregnant Malorie (Sandra Bullock) tries to navigate a world that’s trying to kill her, along the way she finds friends and comrades who try to survive and flee the entity

well.

A Quiet Place is another post-apocalyptic film where noise sensitive aliens, also known as “death angels” slowly kill the human population and leave the earth desolate.

one family desperately tries to survive on a remote farm by making little noise.

The Blair Witch Project

The Purge

Visit starts off with siblings Becca and Tyler visiting their estranged grandparents, but what seemed a like a wholesome and longawaited visit turns into a nightmare.

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DO A POWERBOMB! #1 (of 7)

what’s is about?

Lona Steelrose wants to be a pro wrestler, but she’s living under the shadow of her mother, the best to ever do it. Everything changes when a wrestling-obsessed necromancer asks her to join the grandest pro wrestling tournament of all time, which is also the most dangerous! It’s The Wrestler meets Dragonball Z in a tale where the competitors get more than they ever bargained for! the good Wrestling played an integral part of my childhood. Like many teenagers in the 90s, wrestling continued its influence on my life throughout the Attitude Era and the Monday Night Wars between the two biggest

companies in the US; WCW and WWF. I always knew it was scripted and enjoyed it nonetheless. Friends would remind me all the time that wrestling was “fake.” I’d remind them the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park were fake and I enjoyed the heck out of that or that you simply can’t fake gravity! Wrestling companies have partnered with comic publishers for decades to bring their over the top dramas to panel form but with little to no success. Johnson’s Do A Powerbomb! embraces the absurdity of wrestling, the drama and adds a fantastical element that adds a beautifully complex level to the story. Johnson’s art and writing showcase his admiration for wrestling and highlight his talents as a creator. I have long since fallen out of love of wrestling but Do A Powerbomb definitely makes me think I’m ready to be hurt again! It seems like being a wrestling fan is a prerequisite to enjoy this tale, it isn’t. Do A Powerbomb is a masterfully woven tale for all. the bad

There are readers that will pick up this issue and be taken back by two elements that are generally

uncommon in first issue outings. The first could possibly be the pacing of the issue which at times seems a bit rushed but undoubtedly done so to provide exposition to draw us into the characters and their world. I’m sure issue two will slow things down as we acclimate to the story and the setting. The other grievance may be the themes of the issue, more specifically the combination of wrestling and fantasy. The final few pages of the issue introduce a wildly fantastical element to the story that will take our protagonist in an interesting direction. I can attest that neither grievance detract from the enjoyment of this issue, rather they complement it. This is a bold and daring series and I applaud Johnson’s risk taking.

Writer: Daniel Warren Johnson | Artist: Daniel Warren Johnson | Colorist: Mike Spicer

SHANG CHI AND THE TEN RINGS

what’s is about? Shang Chi has gained possession of the powerful Ten Rings. But so much concentrated energy has not gone unnoticed. Now, every bounty hunter, assassin and evil syndicate in the Marvel Universe is coming to take the Rings from him! But will the responsibility and the truth of the Rings be too much to bear for the Master of Kung Fu? Find out as the true origin of the Ten Rings starts here.

the good

It’s good to see Shang Chi in another solo series and at the forefront of the Marvel Universe. Gene Leun Yang is an extremely talented writer, especially when it comes to personal dynamics. Yang knows how to write friendships or familial bonds exceedingly well. The premise of the issue is simple enough, Shang Chi is in possession of the Ten Rings (which now appear similar to the movie depiction of the Rings rather than actual rings for fingers as they did in the past) but is hesitant to wield them as he feels the power will corrupt him. There’s a lot to enjoy with this issue, especially the fight between Chi and Razorfist at a

minigolf course. If you’re a longtime fan of Shang Chi this series is definitely for you.

the BAD Shang Chi and the Ten Rings #1 doesn’t feel like a first issue. Despite the selling point as a new series it comes with a substantial amount of required understanding of Shang Chi’s supporting cast and history to both comprehend and enjoy. I fall under the category of readers that learned about Shang Chi from his

film. I knew Shang Chi existed and was very aware of the Mandarin and the Ten Rings but had no knowledge of his supporting cast. When I pick up a first issue I don’t expect to have a deep understanding of all that has come before. Rather, through flashbacks and exposition, I expect the creative crew to walk me through what I need to know. This issue presumes too much of the reader’s familiarity with the comic book version of Shang Chi. The story was enjoyable, the art was okay but there was a great deal lacking in this book that made me not want to pick up issue two.

Writer: Gene Leun Yang | Artist: Marcus To | Colorist: Erick Arciniega

what’s is about? Hunt. Kill. Repeat. In the near future, a young girl sees her family slaughtered by the deadliest and most feared hunter in the universe: a Predator. Years later, though her ship is barely holding together and food is running short, Theta won’t stop stalking the spaceways until the Yautja monster who killed her family is dead…or she is.  the good Dark Horse Comics handled the license for the Predator franchise for decades and gave us some spectacular stories. With the purchases of 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Films) by Disney, publication of Predator comics falls under the purview of Marvel Comics, a Disney corporation. I enjoy the Predator movies, some more than

PREDATOR

others, and I enjoy the Predator comics. To celebrate this issue’s publication Marvel has variant covers on most of its major books featuring the Predator against some of the 616’s biggest heroes. This series, as far I can tell, is not set in the Marvel Universe. It takes place on multiple planets in and around the year 2056. Theta was a youngster when her parents and their crewmates were taken out by a Yautja (a Predator). Theta is hunting the hunters as she seeks retribution for her parents’ murders. Walker’s art and Brisson’s story meshed well.

the bad

Two major issues stand out with this series, none of which are the fault of the creative team that put it together. The fault lies with Marvel’s handling of a franchise that, due to the critical acclaim of Prey, is doing extremely well. The first drawback is that, while Brisson crafted a relatable and interesting story, this comic isn’t exactly treading new territory. The concept of the Predator becoming the prey has been done several times before. While I do like Theta as a hero/protagonist, why not pull from a list of dozens

of onscreen characters to base this series on. Marvel doesn’t need Arnold Schwarzenegger’s permission to have Dutch or a descendant of Dutch taking on the Predators. In Predator #1 we have an unfamiliar protagonist set in unfamiliar worlds. The other issue is that, while the comic acknowledges the existence of the Predator film franchise it does nothing with that knowledge. Three pages in we receive a timeline, breaking down the franchise by year, yet, as of now, it does not factor into the story. Issue one was enjoyable but missed the mark when it came to my expectations of a Marvel produced Predator series.

Writer: Ed Brisson | Artist: Kev Walker | Colorist: VC’s Clayton Cowles

Comics

Walker

Comics

Gideon

Jon Mikel

THE JURASSIC LEAGUE

charm. At moments, it is surprisingly deep, especially in regard to Superman and his caveman father, and at all times it’s simply fun. The cast is simple and straightforward, focusing primarily on a handful of dino-rogues and the dino-trinity. The story is simple yet engaging. The art, although inconsistent, is at times detailed and kinetic. This book is enjoyable from start to finish.

then a rectangle. It’s not the most important thing but I found it to be distracting. It’s hard to question any logic in a story such as this but it’s a little odd that Darkseid emerges from an egg of some kind fully grown, articulate and fully powered.

what’s is about?

The trinity of Batsaur, Wonderdon, and Supersaur welcomes a few new monstrous members in the form of Aquanyx, Flashraptor, and Green Torch! But can even a fully staffed Jurassic League stand a chance against Darkseid and his army of corrupted carnivores?

THE GOOD

It’s hard to go wrong with any iteration of a superhero depicted as a dinosaur. I don’t think any reader is going into this series expecting a Shakespearean masterpiece. That’s not to say the series isn’t without

THE BAD Gideon and Mikel look like they’re having a fun time with this series. The biggest drawback is the inconsistency of their depiction of multiple characters. I believe Superman, I mean Supersaur, is meant to be a brachiosaurus or something along the line of a long necked dinosaur. However, there are panels where his head and neck appear to be a square and

Writer: Juan Gedeon & Daniel Warren Johnson | Artist: Juan Gideon & Jon Mikel | Colorist: Mike Spicer

what’s is about?

A Dark Crisis tie-in: the search for Barry Allen! Just when the Speedsters seem to have snapped Barry out of Pariah’s clutches, Wallace seems to be falling in…and the creator of the mind prison isn’t about to let the team of speedsters just run off. And even if they could, where exactly would they run to…?

The Dark Crisis tie-in storyline races to its conclusion!

THE GOOD Flash #785 is a Dark Crisis tie-in but reads like a fast paced self contained issue. This may be the 785th Flash comic but it is undoubtedly going to be some fan’s first foray into the series. Despite the multitude of characters, both old and new, the issue did a spectacular job getting readers up to speed on the comings and goings of not only this series but the Dark Crisis event as well. At its core this book is about the power of family and teamwork even across time and space. Linda West shines in this issue, surrounded by speedsters, as she travels without hesitation across universes to find her husband. The art and writing are solid throughout. Flash #785

FLASH

introduces us to a new villain in the form of a ruthless crime boss named Knives Maroney that was present at his universe’s lab accident that created the Flash, granting him a Benjamin Button-esque condition and other abilities. Knives would make an excellent addition to the Flash’s Rogues Gallery. An excellent issue by Adams and Nahuelpan.

THE BAD

In terms of tie-in books, Flash #785 is excellent. There are so many rewarding panels throughout the book, like Linda socking Barry in the jaw or the Flash family reunion.

The Flash and Nightwing are by far the best ongoing series that DC is currently publishing. There were some panels where the art seemed a little off, more so some of the Knives Maroney panels. Perhaps they were rushed but the final panels seemed a bit distracting. Most of the over the top, facial expressions that distracted from the book belonged to the three major children of the issue. A truly simple grievance in an otherwise amazing book.

Writer: Jeremy Adams | Artist: Amancay Nahuelpan

| Colorist Jeremy Cox

DC Comics / Amancay Nahuelpan / Maria Laura Sanapo

BLACK ADAM -

SOCIETY FILES: CYCLONE

THE GOOD

what’s is about?

When she was young, Maxine Hunkel dreamed of flying with the Justice Society. Now she finally has the powers and the opportunity… but will she say yes? Gueststarring Hawkman on the road to Black Adam! Plus, continuing the Teth-Adam backup story: trouble hits home for Adrianna Tomaz as Intergang mercenaries invade the hallowed halls of her university, on the hunt for the sacred totem she “liberated”-but what strange metal is the idol made from, and why does Intergang need it so badly?

As a fan of Golden Age comics it’s a real treat to see that a Hunkel, maybe not Ma Hunkel but good nonetheless, is getting a big screen adaptation. Cyclone may never wear her super suit in this issue, despite the covers depicting her in it, but it does give us a down to earth, relatable hero we can all get behind. Maxine isn’t accustomed to her powers or the idea that she is Justice Society material but that doesn’t stop her from trying to save the day. This was a fun issue that is doing an excellent job setting up Black Adam’s corner of the DC Extended Universe. Sanapo’s art is solid throughout the entire main story. If you’re as excited as I am about the upcoming Black Adam movie these tie-in one shots are a must read.

THE BAD

The largest issue I have with this issue dealing with Cyclone’s origin story is that it doesn’t detail Cyclone’s origin story. In an expository narrative box Maxine mentions that she was infested by nanites a long time ago… and that’s it. I was expecting more in the way of an origin story set within the

DCEU than a glanced over piece of exposition. I am wondering how much of what we are seeing is going to be included in the Black Adam movie and how much is material created exclusively for this series. Cyclone seems like a fun character and I’m looking forward to seeing her on the big screen.

Writer: Cavan Scott

Maria Laura Sanapo

Arif Prianto

what’s is about?

Jessica Harrow is dead. But her journey has only just begun!

Discover the world of the afterlife, where Jessica has been recruited as a Reaper, tasked with ferrying countless souls to their final destination. But unlike the rest of the Reapers, she has no memory of what killed her and put her into this predicament. In order to unravel the mystery of her own demise, she’ll have to solve an even bigger one –where is the actual GRIM REAPER? the good I’m a sucker for reinterpretations of stories that have been told

GRIM #1

thousands of times. I admire the effort and creativity it must take to present an old concept in a refreshing way. In this story, grim reapers are a profession and the afterlife has a waiting room full of colorful and interesting characters.  Phillips hits it out of the park with Grim. The pacing of the story is solid from prologue to epilogue. Flaviano’s art is energetic and easy on the eyes. This was an excellent first issue that definitely left me craving more. Boom Studios has an amazing team on its hands. This series is going to be fantastic.  the bad In recent years Boom! Studios has launched some stellar original books and Grim is a prime example of why the publisher is becoming home to some of the most creative books out there. Grim is not a flawless book

but by far one of the best I’ve read in a long time. The writing is tight, the dialogue is witty and the premise, despite its dark tone, is fun and engaging. Phillips, Flaviano and Renzi make one heck of a team. Grim is definitely my choice for Book of the Month.

Writer: Stephanie Phillips | Artist: Flaviano | Colorist: Rico Renzi

BOOM! Studios / Flaviano / Giorgio Spalleta and Dan Panosian

ALICE EVER AFTER #1

the good

what’s is about?

Return to Wonderland in this twisted sequel by superstar artist and writer Dan Panosian (An Unkindness of Ravens, Canary) perfect for fans of Mirka Andolfo’s Mercy and Luna. Alice first visited Wonderland as a child. Now an adult, it’s her only escape from a cold, strange reality she finds herself living in. But in order to return to her fantasy world, she’ll need something stronger than mushrooms that change her size, and is forced to resort to crime to feed her growing addiction. Will Alice choose to escape from her uncaring family and childhood trauma in Wonderland, or find the courage to face her demons in the real world?

In this dark tale, Alice has grown up to become an aloof, opioid addict who steals, interacts with the seediest of characters and is the shame of her family. It’s an incredibly well developed spin on a classic tale. It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen or read anything even remotely related to Alice in Wonderland but if you’re someone who grew up with the tale you’re going to love this story. Every panel and page is illustrated beautifully but more so when Alice “escapes” to Wonderland. In a tale full of dark twists the standout feature of this issue is the narration by two of Alice’s pet cats; Snowdrop and Kitty. This certainly isn’t the kind of book I would pick up but I’m definitely interested to see where this story is going.

the bad I’m perhaps not as familiar with Lewis Caroll’s famous tale as I should be so I was a little in the dark as to the nature of some of the supporting cast, assuming they derive from the source material. A little more in the way of establishing setting and characters would have gone a long way with this issue. The writing is solid throughout the issue and the art is top notch, especially in regards to facial features and reactions. If you’re an Alice fan and love a good, dark spin on a classic you are in for a treat with this series.

Writer: Dan Panosian | Artist: Giorgio Spalleta and Dan Panosian | Colorist: Fabiano Mascolo

BITES

what’s is about?

It’s 1997 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A 134-year-old vampire (with the body of a 9-year-old girl) is squatting in a run-down basement apartment. This is Elsie Baker, and she can’t even buy her cigarettes because adults won’t take her seriously. In order to move among the “normals” undetected, she must find a willing human to act as her babysitter. Enter Brenda Zelinski, a dejected 18-yearold stuck in her hometown with no plans and no hope. All Brenda wants is a quick payday so she can afford to fly to Scotland and jump off a cliff to end her miserable life in grand fashion. Together, these two lost souls form an unlikely friendship around their mutual hate for literally everyone else.

THE GOOD Maybe it’s the history teacher in me but I absolutely love it when a story starts off with a precise explanation of time and place in regards to the story. Opening the book to see “August 12, 1997, Pittsburg, PA” was a welcome sight. Good stories are anchored by details in my opinion. This was such a funny book. I literally laughed out loud several times. The art is appropriately cartoonish against an inappropriate story. I actually read it twice consecutively because it was such an enjoyable and quick read. Scout Comics is putting out some great work but this is by far my favorite. If you’re up for a dark and hilarious tale, She Bites is a must buy.

THE BAD

The only downside to this issue is that it was over so quickly! I enjoy a good dark comedy and this definitely fits the bill. The dialogue is witty and outright hilarious at times. I try to pick up indy books that catch my eye. I hadn’t heard much about She Bites and was completely blown away. If you’re into movies like Shaun of the Dead or TV series like What We Do in the Shadows, She Bites must be on your pull list for sure.

Writer: Hedwig Hale | Artist: Alberto Hernandez R. | Colorist: Alberto Hernandez R.