Tag Archives: horror

EYG Upcoming Comics Preview Issue One

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July 2024

Welcome to Embrace Your Geekness. I post a couple of different articles that deal with comics on my website site weekly, the Favorite Comic Covers of the Week and the EYG Comic Cavalcade, and I thought it was time to expand just a bit.

I have always joked about the fact that I am a trend-setter because of some of the weird books that I get. Ironically, there was once a time when I only bought Marvel comics nearly exclusively. I remember when that changed. I was heading to Comic World one night on NEW COMIC BOOK DAY after school and the owner, Ben, told me that I had to read this comic. He told me it was a horror comic and that it was awesome. He told me I did not have to buy it, but just to sit down and read it. I did.

That book was Something is Killing the Children #1 by James Tynion IV and it revolutionized my comic buying choices. I began to start looking at the independent market for books that might intrigue me as a comic reader. Instead of just focusing on characters that I love, I wanted to see stories that could engage me.

When I was a little kid, what interested me most of all was the artists in each book. I remember loving John Byrne and following him around to the different books he would draw. Now, as an adult, I am much more interested in the writer of the stories. I am more likely to give a book written by James Tynion IV, Jeff Lemire or Chip Zdarsky a chance than any current artist.

Anyway, I was looking through the Previews catalog yesterday and I got an idea for a new post for EYG. I want to pick out a few of the new books from the Preview catalog that I am intrigued by and highlight them here. Perhaps I can find a “Something is Killing the Children” for someone else like Ben did for me.

I plan on doing this column every month when the Previews catalog comes out. I will give a short summary and my own thoughts. I am not going to pick anything that I do not plan on purchasing myself just because someone else may believe it will be ‘hot.’ And there will always be a standing recommendation for “Man-Goat & Bunnyman.” Just sayin’.

Ironically, the first book I want to mention is Something is Killing the Children #0, which is the cover story of Previews. This is apparently the untold story that led to Erica Slaughter to the classic “Archer’s Peak Saga.” Written by James Tynion IV and drawn by Werther Dell’Edera, this goes right along with the current run of Something is Killing the Children which has been telling untold stories from Erica’s past. I hope this gives us more specifics and details than a typic “0” comic would. Either way, this is a must have for all Something-fans. It is from Boom! Studios.

Another big thing I found in the Previews was the next comic written by Jeff Lemire. I mentioned him as a writer that I will give a chance to because of how much I have loved his past work which included Fishflies, Phantom Road, Gideon Falls, Sweet Tooth, Essex County and the Bone Orchard Mythos. The new book is entitled Minor Arcana and it says that it features Theresa, a daughter of a small-town ‘psychic’ fraud. Theresa returned home to take care of her mother who is ill only to find that the town may need more help than she expected. This is a book that I am looking forward to because of Jeff Lemire. It is also from Boom! Studios.

Those two were two of the major ones highlighted in Previews. I have a couple more that are not standouts, but that made me curious about. The first of these is entitled The Tin Can Society from Image Comics. Written by Peter Warren and art from Francesco Mobili and Chris Chuckry, The Tin Can Society tells the story of Johnny Moore, a tech mogul who had a disability. However, Johnny is also a vigilante inside a metal suit. Johnny is found murdered and his suit missing, which leads to his childhood friends come together to try to solve the mystery. I do love murder mysteries and, if done well, this could be a great medium for it to excel. Peter Warren is a screenwriter of a film called Kill Me so I am curious to see what he had to bring to this format.

Another Image book that I am looking at is The Moon is Following Us. This is one of those that I might not have given a chance to except that it is being written by Daniel Warren Johnson who is currently doing tremendous work on The Transformers at Image. This is a story about Sam and Duncan and their six-year old daughter Penny. Penny was taken by an evil force called the Cascade and her parents need to enlist the aid of magic creatures to try and save her. Magic books are hit and miss a lot of times for me, but Daniel Warren Johnson has earned the chance to purchase this book.

And then there is a book from the small company Afterlight Comics called Silence. This is clearly a book that I would never have seen without Previews and my mindset that there are great stories besides just Marvel. This is a three-part story described as psychological horror, which is some of my favorite horror stories. It is about a comic book artist named Stanley Kane who has cardiac arrest in a taxi. When he awakens at the hospital, his agent has arranged some R&R in a small town in Michigan named Silence. There appears to be more in Silence than expected. I love these type of small town stories. I loved the TV shows Twin Peaks and Eerie, Indiana as well as the comic series Displaced, Gideon Falls or Stillwater. This sounds as if it may fall into that category.

These are a few of the books featured in Previews this month that make me intrigued. I will return with this column in August for the next round of new books. Until then, read on.

The X-Files S5 E17

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“All Souls”

I wanted to break up the run of shows starting with B with a big old X. X-Files season five episode 17 kicks off another Scully/religious story.

One of the most fascinating things about the series is how much the skeptic Scully believes in the religious symbols and iconography while Mulder, he whose mantra is ‘I want to Believe,’ completely dismisses anything connected to potential supernatural occurrences connected to religion. Any time Mulder is involved in these religious based cases, he takes on a bit of an obnoxious tone because his disbelief really sears through his objectivity. I mean, you would think that if there was anyone who might believe than a seraph came to earth to burn out the eyes of four young girls, it would be Mulder. It is really a wild dichotomy of these two characters.

Gillian Anderson continued to show what a wonderful actor she is, with her scenes in the confessional being highly emotional and she portrayed the confusion and grief of Scully perfectly. Her side as a scientist would poke through at times, even when it was in conflict with her faith. Plus, it is always nice when the show remembers that things happened to Scully and the loss of her daughter is a traumatic moment in her life and that it can come back as a hook for a case.

I am curious how Scully explained the results of the finale of the episode to Mulder and the other cops. It feels like ‘I let the girl go to be killed by an angel so her soul would go to Heaven because a vision of my daughter told me to do it’ doesn’t sound great for an official report.

Always love to see Scully featured front and center, and Gillian Anderson is always exceptional.

The X-Files S5 E16

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Spoilers

“Mind’s Eye”

Season five X-Files episode number sixteen is next up for the X-Files rewatch and it was titled “Mind’s Eye.”

Lili Taylor appeared as blind woman Marty Glenn who seemed to be the main suspect of a murder of a drug dealer. She had blood on her, but that did not convince Mulder that she was guilty.

Mulder and Scully are called in to help out on the case. Despite the evidence that seemed to be loading up against Marty, Mulder believed that there was more going on than what we could see.

Marty Glenn was one of the most sarcastic and snarky characters we have had on the X-Files in quite a long time. I’m not sure why Mulder liked her. He does say that he admired her, overcoming her disability, having trained the remainder of her senses to be able to be anything but a hinderness.

It was a decent episode. Nothing special, but enjoyable.

Infinity Pool (2023)

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June 27, 2023

I avoided this movie not only when it was in the theaters, but this month during the June Swoon 3. I had a feeling that this would not be a film that I would enjoy. Infinity Pool was a Brandon Cronenberg directed film. Brandon’s father is David Cronenberg, who was renown for his body horror films. I am not big on the body horror.

Despite my hesitancy, I gave Infinity Pool a chance on Hulu.

Boy, was I right.

I did not enjoy this movie at all.

According to IMDB, “While staying at an isolated island resort, James (Alexander Skarsgård) and Em (Cleopatra Coleman) are enjoying a perfect vacation of pristine beaches, exceptional staff, and soaking up the sun. But guided by the seductive and mysterious Gabi (Mia Goth), they venture outside the resort grounds and find themselves in a culture filled with violence, hedonism, and untold horror“

I will start with the positive. Mia Goth is a star. She has been amazing in other films such as Pearl and X and she is just as frightening here. I look forward to seeing her career move on.

That was about it. I had no character in this movie that I could support or root for. They were all just horrific people. I think I was meant to cheer for Alexander Skarsgård’s character, but I found him unlikable in just about every way.

The bizarre sequences of the film were not enjoyable to watch for me and just did not engage me with the story.

It was unsatisfying and I was right to skip it last year. I wish I had skipped it this year too.

The X-Files S5 E15

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“Travelers”

This was an interesting episode that was fairly odd.

It was all a flashback. Not only the main part of the story, but also the framing device including Fox Mulder. When we saw Mulder in this episode, this predated his arrival at the X-Files. Truthfully, this introduced Mulder to the concept of the X-Files.

I am not sure the purpose for this episode, outside of highlighting the time of American history when people from our government targeted certain individuals as Communists for political reasons. It was also nice to see Mulder’s father, Bill, involved in the story. Bill Mulder was the hook that brought Fox Mulder into the narrative in the first place.

I liked the aesthetic of the episode, with the throwback look of the show. The fifties feel was very retro and it was a cool break from the typical design of the X-Files. Connecting this to Nazi scientists who had come to America to continue experiments was a solid tie-in and worked for this episode. The do not go too deep into anything from here though.

This was a fun episode, but it was a total filler episode. I do not know i f any of this would mean anything moving forward. I think it was just meant to be a show placed just after Mulder reclaimed his belief system, to give us a way to easy back into the status quo of the series.

Of course, it also meant that we did not get anything with Gillian Anderson and that is always an unwelcomed thing.

The Exorcism

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I wonder what the producers have on Russell Crowe? They must have something for him to appear in this train wreck.

Russell Crowe played Tony Miller, an actor with his share of personal problems, takes a job playing a priest in an exorcism/possession movie, and the role is bringing up all kinds of past troubles. Meanwhile, his estranged daughter Lee (Ryan Simpkins) is trying to get past her own problematic history with her dad.

David Hyde Pierce is here too, playing Father Conor, and being a huge distraction as he just looks too much like Niles Crane. Sam Worthington is in the movie, but he is totally underused, and Chloe Bailey is here too for some reason.

I found this to be trash. The first two-thirds of the film was dull and then the final act of the film was so off-the-track that had there been any goodwill generated previously, it would be spent completely. The story was ridiculous. The characters were wasted. The backstory of Tony was jumbled and not delivered in a manner in which it could be understood. Poor Niles was there looking for Frasier.

The acting was not very good. I mean, I believe that Russell Crowe was giving it his all, but I felt as if the director of the film in the film, played by Adam Goldberg, was constantly berating Tony’s performance and it made me question what Crowe was doing too.

There was a potential story that was here that could have been different and potentially fascinating, but this was not it. This was another terrible movie this year, which seems to be packing them up all over the place.

1.3 stars

Bates Motel S2 E4

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Spoilers

“Check Out”

Norman is starting to show more of his dark side… going as far as to speak as if he were Norma in an tense confrontation with her brother, Caleb.

The whole Norma-Caleb-Dylan mess has threatened to push Norman from his tentative mental balance. We know where the character of Norman Bates ends up, but this Norman has become such a favorite that it is harder to see his ultimate downfall.

It is a credit to Freddie Highmore to be able to take one of the most well known movie murderers and make him a developed and complex character.

And Norma is just an amazing character too. For someone who just winds up in a wheelchair in the attic, Vera Farmiga has filled her with such a delicate and complicated life. Norma and Norman are complex characters that could have easily been just echoes of what the big screen counterparts were like, but they are rich, fully developed and entertaining.

I ache for Norma-Dylan and their relationship. I can understand the anger that Dylan feels but I want them to put it aside and bond as mother-son. Watching him storm away and Norma painfully watching is a tough scene.

Bates Motel also is willing to develop a secondary character such as Emma, and give her a storyline separate from the Bates clan (at least at the moment). Then, there is Alex Romero as well making his way through the dangers from the town. These characters are as great as a anyone on the show and that was not expected.

Under Paris

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There have not been a lot of shark movies. Obviously, there is Jaws. Jaws II was decent. The Shallows had it moments. The Sharknado series can give some stupid fun. And then there is Deep Blue Sea. After that, the shark films usually are not very good.

We have another entry into the awesome end of these movies.

Under Paris is a French language film that tells the story of a specific shark that had evolved in ways that are never explained and that winds up in the Seine, a river that runs through Paris, France right at the time of an Olympic triathlon.

The shark, nicknamed Lilith by Sophia Assalas (Bérénice Bejo), a scientist whose team were tracking sharks that they had tagged. In an attempt to check in on Lilith, Sophia’s entire team is killed by the shark in an uncharacteristic attack.

Three years later, Lilith finds her way into the Seine and into the catacombs beneath the city. A young environmental activist name Mika (Léa Léviant) had found a way to track Lilith, but wants to save the shark and help the female shark to get back out to the ocean.

Sophia and Mika’s paths cross with the Paris Police, including police officer Adil (Nassim Lyes) who does not believe that there is a shark in the Seine at first, until undeniable evidence faces him.

This is a brutal shark movie with some really awesome moments. The tension of the film is off the charts and you can really feel it. Sure, the premise itself requires some serious stretching of credibility, and the film does not try to explain how this is happening. Sophia is constantly saying things like ‘this shouldn’t be happening’ or ‘it is not possible’ and the discoveries of the evolution of this shark is not scientifically sound, yet that does not bother me either.

Why are all mayors in shark movies jerks? Much like Jaws, whose mayor insisted on keeping the beaches open on the July 4th holiday, the Paris mayor (Ann Marivin) is likewise as blind when it came to the danger the shark posed the triathlon.

The sharks look pretty decent, though some of the CGI is questionable at times. My guess is that there is not a ton of budget on this, and I feel as if what we got was substantial enough for what they were going for. I was not taken out of the film by any of the special effects and that can not always be said about shark movies (hey there The Meg).

There were a couple of moments when I gasped out loud or cried something out in shock and that means that the film is doing its job. It is nowhere near Jaws quality, but it is much better than most of the shark attack movies out there. Under Paris is currently available to stream on Netflix.

4.1 stars

The X-Files S5 E14

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SPOILERS

“The Red and the Black”

I found the second part of this two part X-Files Mythology episode to be considerably stronger than the first part. Perhaps because it started to lead toward returning Mulder to the status quo, being the person who believes in extraterrestrial life.

Of course, it also saw the return of Cigarette Smoking Man, and I continue to wish he would just be dead.

Gillian Anderson was exceptional with her performance, especially during the hypnosis scenes. Those scenes were remarkably uncomfortable and you could see how they were affecting Mulder, even if he was not yet ready to accept once again his philosophy of “I Want to Believe.”

Agent Spender is a new recurring character from this two-parter that adds him to the list of other characters that I really dislike. It sure looked as if he were the son of CSM, which is just one more reason to find this guy unlikable.

We got even more of the Syndicate, and a lot of talk about an alien invasion/alien war, but that is not necessarily anything that would happen during the series.

This episode does help me feel better about the previous one, “Patient X.” Non-believer Mulder was just not a character that I want to spend a lot of time with. He seemed so spiteful that it took a lot of the charm of Fox Mulder away. I am glad this helped reignite Mulder’s belief moving forward.

The X-Files S5 E13

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“Patient X”

Boy, Agent Mulder as a non-believer is a bit of a jerk.

I’m not sure if this is intended to flip the roles of sceptic and believer between Mulder and Scully, but that sure seems to be what is going down in this first part of a continued story.

Alex Krycek is back once again. He is well overdue for a final resting place. The X-Files is a different type of TV show. A lot of the times, I enjoy the antagonists on shows. I used to love Ben Linus on LOST. The bad guys on Twin Peaks were always entertaining as could be. But I was really wanting Cigarette Smoking Man to die and I feel much the same way about Krycek. I am not sure what the difference are between these characters and other similar characters. Maybe because the X-Files never really come to conclusions and just keeps pushing their answers off. I do like some of the X-Files monster-of-the-week, but the antagonists in the mythology episodes need to go.

This episode just feels wrong. I know the Mulder is a non-believer arc includes the movie they were filming and releasing, but it just feels too much of a shift in character. Especially since the episode before, Mulder was a believer in the vampires and such. It just feels like this was dropped in the season and now Mulder no longer wants to believe.

Perhaps the second part of the episode will help me make this more engaging, but I did not love this one.

The X-Files S5 E12

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“Bad Blood”

This is one of my favorite, if not my favorite, X-Files episodes of all time. “Bad Blood” is a monster-of-the-week story involving vampires, but the best part of the episode is the humor. This is one of the funniest X-Files episodes in the entire series.

The concept behind the episode was Mulder and Scully telling the story of what happened in their case in Texas, describing what happened in each of their own POVs. While the scenes were similar, little differences between the way Mulder saw things and the way Scully saw things were just hilarious.

Even more intriguing was how Mulder and Scully saw the other one. Scully’s tale had Mulder being more exuberant and not very forthcoming while Mulder saw Scully as irritated and snipy.

Luke Wilson guest starred as Sheriff Hartwell, both with and without buck teeth. The running gag of Scully’s attraction to him was in both of their stories and led to Mulder adding the detail of the buck teeth, assumingly out of jealousy.

Some of my favorite lines/moments from “Bad Blood” :

  • “It’s not that Mexican goat sucker either”
  • “I was drugged!”
  • Scully getting hungry during an autopsy because she saw pizza in the stomach contents.
  • Mulder’s “Yee-haw” and Scully’s “Hoo-boy”
  • Mulder throwing the sunflower seeds, saving himself.
  • “Probably Cause of Death: Gee, that’s a tough one”
  • In Scully’s version: Mulder does the Shaft theme song to which Mulder responds “I DID NOT!”
  • “I just put money in the magic fingers” -Scully’s total disappointment.
  • The small intestine sliding out from the scale.

That is just a sampling of the brilliance of this episode. As I stated, if this is not my number one episode of the X-Files, it is certainly in argument for the top three. It is wholly original and provided Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny a perfect situation to show off their excellent comedic timing. It also allowed a look inside the minds of Mulder and Scully to how they can see the other person in their partnership at times.

“Bad Blood” is outstanding.

Bates Motel S2 E2

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“Shadow of a Doubt”

Lots of things going down on Bates Motel as the second season gets underway.

  • Norma is concerned over Norman’s blackouts and she finds a pearl necklace in his room.
  • Norman is trying to help Bradley get away with the murder she committed.
  • Speaking of which, the murder Bradley committed, Gil, whom killed her father, started fireworks between the two weed families in the area.
  • Norma and Norman try out for local musical at the theater in town. Norma knocks her song out of the park.
  • Romero arrests a suspect for Miss Watson’s murder, based on a seaman sample.
  • Romero presses charges without much evidence.
  • Norman can’t get away from Norma to drive Bradley to the bus station. He called Dylan to help. Dylan will make it look like she committed suicide.

Then, the episode was coming to an end in what seemed to be a happy moment. The word about Miss Watson’s accused killer got out and everyone was happy (especially Norma who believed that Norman had killed her during one of his blackouts). Dylan had returned and gave Norman the good news about Bradley getting on the bus and gave him a handwritten note from her to Norman. There was happy music playing in the background. It felt like the episode was going to end on a happy note for once.

I should know Bates Motel wouldn’t let that happen.

Norma’s brother arrived in the town, looking for the Bates Motel. At the end of season one, we discovered that Norma had been sexually assaulted by him through her teenage years. Things aren’t looking good for this guy.

The X-Files S5 E11

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Spoilers

“Kill Switch”

AI rear its ugly head once again on The X-Files and this time, Scully get to kickbox a bunch of evil nurses.

What?

It was a weird episode that featured an armless Mulder, action hero Scully, and a computer programmer trying to prevent an AI from going worldwide.

It included a couple of laser beams from a satellite targeting our heroes from space, leading to massive explosions.

I saw a lot of love for this episode online, but to be honest, it was not a personal favorite of mine. The whole Scully does roundhouse kicks seemed silly to me and it damaged the tone of the episode, in my opinion.

It was always nice to see the Lone Gunmen once again and their jaw-dropping idolization of “Invisigoth”, the hacker involved with the AI, was very funny. Her attitude toward them put them in their place too.

Overall, this episode was fine and the armless Mulder scenes were scary, but I just was not as into this as some previous X-Files episodes. It was far from bad, but I just did not love this one.

Run Rabbit Run (2023)

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June 9, 2024

Another horror movie highlights today’s June Swoon as I watched the Australian film Run Rabbit Run on Netflix.

Run Rabbit Run is more of a psychological thriller than it is a horror film as there are not many scares and it really does focus on the mental state of the characters involved. It was effective in this manner as I felt a connection with the two lead characters as they went through their memories of tragic events from the past.

However, it does take a while to get rolling. The film seemed a bit long and the pacing was not the best. Some of the beats felt as if they were repeated during the story and it seemed that this could have been a tighter film with some of this narrowed down.

The lead performances are the reason to watch Run Rabbit Run. Sarah Snook played Sarah, the mother whose past was coming back to cause trouble with her daughter. The daughter, Mia, was played well by young actor Lily LaTorre. She provided many of the film’s creepiest moments as she was seemingly being possessed by the spirit of Alice, Sarah’s missing sister.

These performances overcame the weaknesses in the plot, which included a predictable outcome, and made this a film I would say that I enjoyed watching. It is not a perfect horror movie, but it does enough things well that make it interesting.

Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor (2023)

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June 7, 2023

As I was searching for movies to put on the possible list for this June Swoon, I came across this horror film on Shudder. It sounded interesting and so I placed it on the list. I had no idea that this was the fourth film of the series, with the first Hell House LLC being released in 2015. I guess I have some films to watch during The October 13 this year.

Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor looks to have built on the previous installments (though I can’t say that for sure) and provided a found footage horror film that was extremely creepy and had its share of effective scares.

According to IMDB, “A group of cold case investigators stay at the Carmichael Manor. After four nights, the group was never heard from again. What is discovered on their footage is even more disturbing than anything found on the Hell House tapes.”

The three main characters that went to stay at the Carmichael Manor did a great job of selling the mysterious feel and the fright that this situation would entail inside a person. The story of the events really work well here, as Margot (Bridget Rose Perrotta) ties the story into her background. The film does this in a very strong manner, not bashing the audience over the head with it. In fact, it is possible that some may miss the connection to Margot if they are not paying attention.

Then, I enjoyed the way the film kind of makes this found footage/haunted house film into a sort of documentary, with a couple of people commenting about the footage that was found of these missing people.

The film goes to great lengths to build a mythology, which I can only assume included a bunch of Easter eggs from the previous three movies.

I found this extremely creepy and a little unnerving as I watched it this morning in the dark. That means this horror film did its job. I was entertained and I look forward to going back and seeing some more of this franchise.