Exclusive: Gene Simmons Discusses New Horror Film Company Erebus Pictures

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Exclusive: Gene Simmons Discusses New Horror Film Company Erebus Pictures

Rock and Roll icon tells SHOCK more about his latest endeavor, Erebus Pictures.

Iconic bass player, rock and roll visionary, entrepreneur, pop culture provocateur and insatiable horror and fantasy film junkie Gene Simmons announced earlier this year that he was joining forces with WWE Studios to form Erebus Pictures, a new imprint designed produce a series of high quality, sophisticated horror films.

Simmons’ love of horror helped shaped the DNA of the legendary band KISS, the best-selling theatrical art/trash rock and roll juggernaut he co-founded with frontman Paul Stanley 40 years ago in NYC. Simmons’ ‘Demon’ character is an amalgam of Godzilla, Lon Chaney and a mythical Japanese boogeyman; a living monster who marauds across stages spitting blood and fire and sticking out his reptilian tongue. But oddly, when it comes to cinema, Simmons prefers subtlety to splatter and, although KISS pulls out all the stops when they play live, Erebus Pictures isn’t going to be focused on bloated spectacle to dazzle audiences.

“It’s never been proven that the more money you spend on a movie, the better it is or that it will make more money,” Simmons told us.

“Now, you can’t do GONE WITH THE WIND for 2 million, so the subject matter is limited, but I’ve contended M. Night Shyamalan’s SIGNS, which I thought was a very good film, without Mel Gibson, without the big star talent, without M. Night’s money…it’s a 2 million dollar movie. I don’t believe that these movies depend on stars because if it’s high concept, I sort of want to see it.”

The first film from the Erebus stable will be the eerie, atmospheric ‘A.I. gone evil’ future-shocker TEMPLE, penned by Matt Savelloni.

“It reminds me of DEMON SEED,” Simmons says, “and a few other movies where the computers are so advanced. WAR GAMES had that thing, it was kind of way advanced and building as a computer that’s beyond anything. And of course, things start to happen in the same way as they did in ALIENS, when they sent in a commando team to find out what the hell happened. That’s sort of what happens. And then they come in and it’s a combination of TEN LITTLE INDIANS, probably closer in tone to John Carpenter’s THE THING. Which I thought was a better film than Howard Hawk’s THE THING.”

There are several other Erebus Pictures titles in development, including THE DEVIL’S TRIANGLE, a film based on the very real, inexplicable mystery surrounding the vanishings in and around the Bermuda Triangle.

“It’s never been explained why statistically so many ships and so many planes have been lost there,” says Simmons.

“To this day the compasses go nuts when you go into that area. There’s something going on. They think there are large methane deposits underwater that release naturally and so people die and ships sink and whirlpools and all this kind of stuff. But there’s no explaining why planes up there get lost. There’s a famous one with three coast guard planes that lost their bearing I guess went on forever and some people think it’s a doorway to another dimension. We don’t really deal with any of that, just that stuff has happened and stuff is going to happen to our crew.”

For the full story on Erebus Pictures, pick up the latest copy of DELIRIUM Magazine, where Simmons reveals more about the new brand and its plans for the future.

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Review: Gothic Horror Classic GHOST STORY on Blu-ray

Shock Till You Drop

Review: Gothic Horror Classic GHOST STORY on Blu-ray

Classic Gothic horror film GHOST STORY is worth rediscovering on Blu-ray.

Fans of author Peter Straub’s brilliant 1979 novel GHOST STORY were more than a little let down when director John Irvin’s feature film was released in 1981. The movie was and is a streamlining of Straub’s narrative and thematically dense source, with characters altered, motivations removed, ambiguities made more explicit and many details simplified to obscurity.

But a book is not a film, nor should it be, and GHOST STORY is, when removed from any literary expectations, a shimmering Gothic horror tale, one filled with dread, secrets, sexuality and passages of full blown horror. A childhood favorite of this writer, the film has finally arrived on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory with minimal fanfare, which is a shame because the picture (especially in this lovingly remastered HD presentation) deserves as much attention as possible, all the better to steer younger audiences toward what is certainly one of the most elegant horror films of the 1980’s.

GHOST STORY is chiefly notable for casting a cabal of genuine Hollywood legends in principal roles. Elderly icons John Houseman, Melvyn Douglas, Fred Astaire and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. star as old (really old!), wealthy and educated New England born and raised friends who have long enjoyed the exploits of their self-made gentleman’s club they affectionately dub “The Chowder Society”. Every so often, the men meet to sit, talk, catch-up, sip fine liquor and scare the devil out of each other, regaling the most perverse ghost stories they can muster. And yet, when the film introduces us to them, it’s clear they are themselves haunted by some sort of secret, one that dare not speak its name…

When Fairbanks Jr.’s son David (played with a lovely 70’s mustache by A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3 star Craig Wasson) inexplicably falls to his death from his penthouse apartment window, the men welcome David’s twin brother Don (also played by Wasson, sans ‘stache) into their folds, where he tells a ghost story of his own…

Some months prior, Don had met what he thought was the woman of his dreams, a beautiful secretary named Alma (the delicious Alice Krige from SLEEPWALKERS and SILENT HILL) whose insatiable sexuality causes Don to become addicted, woefully derailing his once solid professional life. But soon, Alma becomes strange, cold and distant. She locks into odd trances and her increasingly unstable behavior causes Don to break off the courtship, no matter how much his loins may suffer. Soon after, Don receives a call from his brother David who mentions that he has since taken up with Alma and, despite David’s warnings to steer clear, he aims to marry her. Soon after, David winds up dead.

After suffering a series of startling nightmares, the initially skeptical Chowder Society, not only begin to believe Don’s story but in turn share a story of their own. Seems in their youth, the men also met a sexually liberated young woman named Eva (also Krige) who became their collective obsession. One night, after heavy drinking resulted in a volatile confrontation, Don’s father hit Eva and she fell down, smashing her head and was believed by the group to be dead. Instead of contacting the authorities, the group aimed to dispose of the body via a watery grave. But when Eva suddenly wakes up, it’s too late to rescue her from her ultimate fate.

It becomes clear that Ama and Eva are indeed the same woman, a rage-wracked wraith from beyond the grave who has risen to take her just revenge on generation of the Chowder Society men and take it she does, resulting in some harrowing scenes of Rick Baker-designed ghoul-faced shock.

But graphic gore and mayhem isn’t what GHOST STORY trades in. It’s an elegant, decidedly adult drama about sins of the fathers and duality laced with generous amounts of horror and erotica. Indeed, the copious amounts of nudity both female and male (if you ever wanted to see Wasson’s semi-erect penis flailing about as he falls from the sky, now is your chance) certainly earned the film its R rating and a sex scene between Wasson and Krige, wherein furniture suffers and lamps are smashed, is an intense bit of phony filmic fornication. This frank sexuality is an essential component to the story as Alma/Eva’s celebration of sex is what initially seals her fate and then, in her phantasmagorical state, is used as a weapon to destroy. The fleshier, sensational sequences also brush up nicely against the austere, snowy New England landscapes (the film is immaculately shot by the great Jack Cardiff, the same DP who shot THE AFRICAN QUEEN and THE RED SHOES among many other classics) and the dry, sexless presence of The Chowder Society’s members themselves.

On the latter tip, GHOST STORY’s central draw, the quartet of elder statesmen is indeed a treat, something Krige herself recalls in detail during one of the many wonderful supplemental feature interviews on the disc’s back end. These are actors who helped invent American cinema and to see them back in action (Douglas sadly passed away before the film was released), clearly relishing their roles and even quietly trying to one up each other, amplifies GHOST STORY’s importance as an essential piece of film history. Wasson is fine too, channeling the same sort of everyman-turned-obsessive that he played in Brian De Palma’s BODY DOUBLE.

But really, GHOST STORY’s appeal as a major work of adult horror rests on the porcelain shoulders of the young Kirge, who was fresh from the set of CHARIOTS OF FIRE and is nothing short of electric here. Krige can be fragile, coy, terrifying, fearlessly uninhibited and skin-tighteningly malevolent, sometimes within the stretch of a single scene. It’s the same intelligent, dangerous energy she would bring to much of her future work, including her majestic stint as The Borg Queen in STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT and her fluid turn as Mary Shelly in the underrated HAUNTED SUMMER. As Alma/Eva, she’s nothing short of mesmerizing.

GHOST STORY mutes some of Straub’s story arcs and pushes Eva’s fellow shape-shifting ghouls into the peripheral of the tale, never really explaining the cult of fiends who hang around acting as her familiars. But those elements are explored in the book in depth and said tome is readily available for those who seek it out to enjoy. But GHOST STORY the film is a sterling work of sophisticated terror that hasn’t aged a day since its release and is ripe for rediscovery…

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Electro/Industrial Legends FRONT 242 Want You To Join Them on Tsū!

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Electro/Industrial Legends FRONT 242 Want You To Join Them on Tsū!

Lock the target! Bait the line! Spread the net! Catch the man! FRONT 242 on Tsū!

Legendary Belgian electro/Industrial band FRONT 242 have made waves into fan-interactive social networking and have started a page on the emerging social networking service “Tsū”. This makes the band the very first Belgian act to set up a presence on the brand new network which is taken the internet by storm. This writer hasn’t had much of a desire to visit or join Tsū, but Hell, I’d follow 242 anywhere…

FRONT 242 joins the ranks of several other high profile acts from other scenes and sub-genres that have opened shop on the network, which reportedly is a lot more artist friendly than Facebook thanks to an unlimited global reach. Word on the street is that the folks at good old Farcebook are knocking their knees in terror at Tsū’s surge in popularity and are blocking every link towards the social network claiming it is a security risk. Sounds a tad too ‘Tin Hat’ to us, but if 242 is involved, I’d be spooked too…

FRONT 242 want to invite SHOCK readers to join them on Tsū.

Go HERE to join the veteran band that helped propel and refine the very concept of the sound of ‘cyberpunk’.

For all other things 242 go to their official site.

And feel free to groove on the wild Anton Corbijn directed video for the 242 classic ‘Headhunter’ from the 1988 album ‘Front by Front’, below…

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TV Recap: THE WALKING DEAD Season 6, Episode 4, “Here’s Not Here”

Shock Till You Drop

TV Recap: THE WALKING DEAD Season 6, Episode 4, “Here’s Not Here”

THE WALKING DEAD delivers a masterpiece of television with the 4th episode of this 6th season.

THE WALKING DEAD is firing on all cylinders this season, opening up its narrative, playing with timelines and space, pounding out suspenseful set pieces and offering a much broader, more epic canvas to paint its arcs on.

With that, this 4th episode dials back the dense story forged in the first three installments, with the horror of the Alexandria fallout and the death of a pivotal character (IS Glenn dead? Everyone wants to know!) pushed to the margins in favor of etching a somber, 90 minute spin-off film.

Indeed, this episode plays like a quasi-western-cum-samurai movie, with minimal carnage, maximum atmosphere and many wide, open spaces; a stand-alone 2-hander that is as existential as it is affecting, while still providing essential backstory for a major character and giving an actor the platform to deliver some career best work.

In this episode we follow Morgan (Lennie James, who is mesmerizing) and the origins of his stick of death and life of peace. The show opens with Morgan addressing the camera directly, an obvious substitute for another character who is left off-screen, to be revealed later. Morgan promises to reveal “every last bit” before the action smashes to the character having some kind of mental break in a blood smeared room, ranting at everyone and no one as flames lap at the walls.

This is the pre-credits set-up for what will be Morgan’s story, the bridge between his life in Atlanta first charted in Season One and his new existence as TWD’s resident zen warrior.

We see Morgan running through the woods, slaughtering ghouls with wild abandon. The KNB –sculpted corpses keep-a-coming and Morgan keeps killing (including one head pummeling shot that rivals that of Gaspar Noe’s IRREVERSIBLE), piling the double-dead onto an ever-burning pyre. In one horrifying shot, a not-quite-decimated zombie leaps from the fire to continue his cannibal quest before Morgan puts it down once and for all.

But it isn’t just the dead Morgan wants to destroy. It’s everything and everyone. Any living person that crosses his path is murdered with equal efficiency. Every stretch of wood Morgan wipes out, he uses a stick dipped in blood (in one revolting scene we see the makeshift quill inking up in a zombie’s stomach) to write the word ‘clear’ on trees. He simply eats, sleeps, camps, kills, erases and moves on…

When he finds a fortified cabin in the woods, a voice warns him to drop his rifle. The same voice also offers him falafel. Morgan, still in a state of singular, homicidal delirium ignores this request and continues his raid, that is until he’s clubbed into unconsciousness by the unseen owner of that voice.

The home belongs to Eastman, a man who lives a life of solitude and peace in the woods. He locks Morgan in a cage and hands him a copy of the book ‘The Art of Peace’ and prepares a vegetarian meal for him, while lecturing about how man was not meant to kill. He keeps a goat in his yard that he protects and cares for, defending when stray ghouls drift onto his property looking for a quick bite. At night he brings the goat inside to sleep and asks Morgan to be kind to his pet. Morgan responds by demanding Eastman kill him. Eastman shuts off the lights an goes to bed.

We learn that Eastman was, before the end of the world, a forensic psychiatrist employed by the state to assess prisoners and see if they were contenders for reform. He tells Morgan that he, like all of the murderers and criminals he encounters, is not bad, just suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder and he offers to help Morgan and train him in the ancient art of Aikido,  to find a higher, peaceful purpose.

Morgan retorts by telling Eastman that he will kill him once he escapes. That he will do this because he ‘clears’; it’s what he has to do. Eastman tells him to reject such notions and it is revealed that Morgan’s cell was never actually locked. Morgan attacks Eastman. They fight. Eastman overtakes Morgan twice and, eventually, Morgan breaks down in defeat.

Over the span of days, maybe weeks, the two men bond and slowly, Morgan reconnects with his humanity. When a troupe of ghouls come into the yard and go after the goat, Morgan kills them, and, following the guidance and morality of his newfound mentor, buries the zombies in a make-shift cemetery. Even the living dead deserve respect and dignity…

Eastman shares more of his anti-murder philosophies while also training Morgan in his stick-wielding ways. In one poignant moment, Eastman promised Morgan (who, as we know lost his wife and son) that he will one day hold a baby again, which in the season opener, he did after Rick offered him a cuddle with Judith. But after a botched attempt to kill a zombie infiltrator (that is actually the ghoulified version of a boy Morgan previously killed), Eastman is bit on the back and, very quickly, the dream unravels.

With Eastman on borrowed time, Morgan continues his duties farming and protecting the house. But then the damned goat wanders off and is eaten by a sickening ghoul. Eastman is devastated by  this and the end of his life and the world he so lovingly created and passes on some final wisdom to Morgan before the zombie disease takes him and Morgan opts to leave the home.

In the show’s final moments, we smash back to where we began. As it turns out, Morgan is in the now re-fortified Alexandria and is relating his tale to the member of The Wolves he confronted last round. The thug is Morgan’s prisoner and Morgan is now attempting to rehabilitate this man, like Eastman did to him. But the killer is having none of this and calmly, distressingly reveals that he must abide by his code and that if and when he escapes, he will kill Morgan and everyone else, babies too. It’s what he is wired to do…

Morgan leaves the prisoner in shackles and re-emerges to the street. He hears a sound, turns and rushes off camera towards it and…
And that’s it.

How remarkable that THE WALKING DEAD used an extended time-slot to devote to this character and deliver such a beautiful, haunting piece of work.

This season is a masterpiece of television.

And here’s a look at next week’s episode:

The post TV Recap: THE WALKING DEAD Season 6, Episode 4, “Here’s Not Here” appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

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What Scares Horror’s Biggest Stars?

AnythingHorror Central

What Scares Horror’s Biggest Stars?

Happy Halloween!! October has come to an end and the best time of the year is finally here (although I’ve been celebrating Halloween since October first in my home). I came across this article from TheWrap.com about what horror films scare some of the genre’s biggest stars and knew I had to share this with you all. The article is written by Joe Otterson and can be found here. This is a great list of horror celebs and it is nice to know they all have great tastes in horror films!! Here is the original article, unedited and unaltered. Enjoy, and have a great Halloween!!!

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24 Scary Movies That Terrify Jason Voorhees Actor Kane Hodder, Other Horror Stars

TheWrap delves into the spookiest films that haunt some of the biggest stars the genre has ever seen

Halloween is Saturday, which means it is time to watch all of your favorite scary, gory, and all around creepy movies.

In honor of the ghoul-tastic holiday, TheWrap spoke with several legends of the horror genre to find out what movies will be keeping them up with the lights on this year.

Check out each horror star’s list and why they like each film below.

Kane Hodder (“Jason X,” “Jason Goes to Hell”)

-“The Exorcist” (1973) — “Best horror movie of all time! Untouched subject matter at the time. By the time you reached the theatre, you were already scared.”

-“The Shining” (1980)– “I would like to say one word: Nicholson!”

-“Poltergeist” (1982)– This started my interest in the paranormal world and inspired me to form the Hollywood Ghost Hunters.

-“Frankenstein” (1931)– “I patterned Jason in “Friday the 13th” (somewhat) after this character

-“The Birds” (1963– “The first movie that scared me as a kid.”

Bill Moseley (“Texas Chainsaw Masscare 2,” “House of 1000 Corpses,” “Devil’s Rejects)

-“Night of the Living Dead” (1968)– “The first of the ‘modern’ horror films I saw as a youth scared me as a story and captivated me as a brilliant vessel of scathing social commentary. George Romero really is the godfather of the modern horror movie. Casting an African American as Ben, the movie’s stalwart & resourceful hero, was a master stroke.”

-“Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974)– “Scared the crap out of me when i first saw it on the tail end of a double bill featuring Bruce Lee’s ‘Enter the Dragon’ at the old Paramount Theater in Boston’s Combat Zone back in the summer of ’76. The fear finally left me when I joined the Sawyer family as Choptop in the spring of 1986!”

–“Ghost of Frankenstein” (1942) — “Bela Lugosi steals the show as Igor, Dr. Frankenstein’s not-so-trustworthy assistant. Moody, wonderful sets, score & cinematography, but the non-Dracula Bela is the standout here!”

-“Carnival of Souls” (1962) — “A B&W indy gift from Herk Harvey by way of Lawrence, Kansas, and Salt Lake City, Carnival stars the oddly fetching Candace Hilligoss as a church organist who is stalked by a strange & frightening fellow with black rings around his eyes. Climax at SLC’s old Saltair Pavilion. Spooky, scary, cheesy- how would you like to be locked in a department store changing room and no one can hear you scream?!”

Michael Berryman (“The Hills Have Eyes,” “The Devil’s Rejects”)

-“The Hitcher” (1986)– “Captivating and very intense”

-“Silence of the Lambs” (1991)– “Disturbing and eerie.”

-“Dracula” (1992)– “Dreamscape, omnipresent, mystifying”

-“The Hill’s Have Eyes” (1977)–“Gritty, honest, in your face.”

-“The Exorcist” (1973)– “Got on my knees and prayed with a conscious effort!”

Allison Tolman, star of FX’s “Fargo” and Legendary’s Upcoming Horror Comedy “Krampus”

-“The Descent” (2005)– “Surprisingly feminist ass-kicking shit show.”

-“The Babadook” (2014)–“A perfect combo of psychological and literal horror and Essie Davis is the KWEEN.”

-“The Orphanage” ( (scary that melts into heartbreak is the best you guys).

Colin Geddes, TIFF Midnight Madness Programmer and Lead Curator of Horror Streaming Service Shudder

“An American Werewolf in London” (1981)– “Rick Baker’s Oscar award-winning transformation certainly is one of the main attractions of the film, but I am always struck by our hero’s loss of control and helplessness in the situation. Plus, the best double nightmare sequence featuring Nazi werewolves!”

R.A. Mihailoff (“Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III”)

-“Freaks” (1932)– “This is the inspiration for the TV show ‘American Horror Story.’”

-“Carnival of Souls” (1962)– “Very atmospheric and spooky.”

-“Theatre of Blood” (1973)– “How can you go wrong with camping horror revolving around Shakespeare?”

-“Night of the Living Dead” (1968)– “First modern classic horror film ever. Created a genre still thriving today.”

-“Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974)– “Another game changer in modern horror”

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As always, I’d love to hear what your favorite horror films are. Sign off below in the comments section.

Stay Bloody!!!

Filed under: Guest Contributor, Horror Lists, New Posting

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Exclusive: EVIL DEAD Documentary Reveals Final Teaser Trailer

Shock Till You Drop

Exclusive: EVIL DEAD Documentary Reveals Final Teaser Trailer

SHOCK gets the exclusive teaser trailer for new EVIL DEAD fan documentary HAIL TO THE DEADITES.

With the premier of Starz’ ASH VS. EVIL DEAD series ready to unleash on Halloween night, Montreal based production outfit Digger Films have given SHOCK the exclusive look at the final teaser for their epic upcoming EVIL DEAD fan doc HAIL TO THE DEADITES.

HAIL TO THE DEADITES is the brainchild of Steve Villeneuve, co-founder and co-owner of Digger Films and it features the participation of EVIL DEAD franchise alumni like Ted Raimi, Betsy Baker, Theresa Tilly, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Tom Sullivan ,Dan Hicks ,Kassie Wesley DePaiva, Sarah Berry, Rick Domeier, Bill Moseley and the King himself Bruce Campbell.

The film isn’t a movie about the EVIL DEAD pictures themselves rather it targets the global cult of superfans, collectors and cosplayers that surrounds Sam Raimi’s original three DEAD films (THE EVIL DEAD, EVIL DEAD 2 and ARMY OF DARKNESS) as well as the 2013 remake and the new ASH VS. EVIL DEAD series.

The Digger team have been unleashing a new teaser every week in October (you can see them all by going to the official HAIL TO DEADITES Facebook page)

Here’s the exclusive look at the final teaser:

HAIL TO THE DEADITES is scheduled to be released in 2016.

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Concert Review: GHOST Haunts Salt Lake City

Shock Till You Drop

Concert Review: GHOST Haunts Salt Lake City

Theatrical rock heroes GHOST rocked Salt Lake City and SHOCK was there.

A mere three blocks from one of the largest theological epicenters in America, the force of nature known as GHOST stormed into Salt Lake City rock palace The Depot  on Wednesday night in all their Satanic glory and laid waste to a full house of adoring followers.

The Swedish band’s infamous live show has become incredibly honed in the last three years and it’s clear that the band’s success is being put right back into the production The huge backdrop, the crazy lighting rig, the new masks for the Nameless Ghouls, newly minted frontman Papa Emeritus III’s multiple costume changes; all a staggering site.

Visually and aesthetically the band may seem extreme, but what is most remarkable is their sense of melody and willingness to embrace a more gentle music at times to deliver their dark message.

Papa III speaks words of truth.

The GHOST look may say ‘Satanic KISS’ but the music is pure old school rock, with a sound hearkening back to bands like Coven, Arthur Brown, Roky Erickson, and in particular Blue Oyster Cult. The more aggressive stuff rears its head at key moments, with a heavier sound pointing occasionally to bands like Megadeth and in particular, Mercyful Fate.

As a long-time supporter of the Papa and The Nameless Ghouls, beginning with their demo, it’s been quite a sight to see this confrontational (albeit tongue in cheek) band skyrocket into Grammy-winning mainstream popularity. With the new album “Meloria” selling briskly and the video for their single “Cerice” nearing a whopping two and a half million views, there seems to be no cap on their success.

Factor in the band’s appearance on Stephen Colbert (tonight in fact! October 30th!), as well as their impending arena tour with IRON MAIDEN, and I think it’s safe to say GHOST(s) do indeed exist…

Need more proof? Check out this clip from the show!

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