April 2008 Archives

One of the oldest haunted attractions is around with a new look. Pirates of Emerson, a haunted attraction located in Fremont, California, have just launched their new website and schedule for 2008. The site is really well done, and is definitely worth a look. Although that Flash intro is so 1999 guys!

I remember when I first heard about this movie - there was this cryptic trailer that was associated with producer J. J. Abrams. So of course that got people talking.

So when I managed to get the DVD to review I was both aprehensive and excited to see what the hype was all about.

The movie is about a group of friends in New York getting together to have a going away party for one of their own when strange things begin happening in the city.

The movie is told from the point of view of one of the characters holding a video camera.  Much like the Blair Witch Project, we see the story unfold as if we are part of the group, via the camera.

The movie revolves around the "attack" of the city by a large monster that we never really get a clear view up until nearer the end of the movie, and the friend's attempts at getting out of Manhattan using any means possible.

One of my favorite writers Dennis Dermody came up with this awesome monster list that I had to share with you all:

Enjoy!

1) The Giant Claw (1957)
2) The Creeping Terror (1964)
3) From Hell it Came (1957)
4) It Conquered the World (1956)
5) The Alligator People (1959)
6) Robot Monster (1953)
7) The Mighty Gorga (1969)
8) Frankenstein's Daughter (1958)
9) The Horror of Party Beach (1972)
10) The Killer Shrews (1959)

Ahhh they don't make em like that anymore! So what did we miss? Leave your thoughts in our comments
section.

Dead Space, the upcoming Sci-fi Horror gaming experience from Electronic Arts is on its way, and the game recently found its home online at www.deadspacegame.com. Visit the site to view, rate, share and comment on the largest collection of Dead Space media available online.

The site features in-depth exclusive behind-the-scenes coverage with daily blogs from the Dead Space dev team and video diaries chronicling the trials and triumphs of the game's development.   Check out the video below:

Have you ever taken a shower in the complete dark? I know it's weird. But try it...no really do it. I can almost gaurentee it's one of the creepiest things you can do. Maybe it's all the Physco refrences as we grew up but I couldn't do it. Trust me I tried. It's something about the darkness. I mean the shower curtain blocks your view of what's going on anyway but in the darkness it's double creepy. The reason I mention this is that I watched 30 Days of Night the other day. Trust me this film is way more than another crappy vampire film. Although the acting was just okay the film has two main things going for it. The darkness and the cinematography. Both were amazing. The film has a look that's almost all it's own, some may argue that the vampires are very zombie in their looks but I disagree. The way they walk, the way they communicate is all very vampire. As I mentioned the film doesn't have the best acting from Josh Hartnett and company, but it's not too bad. However what makes the film stand out is the way it looks. You see the last bit of daylight in the first in 15 minutes and from their on in you really do believe you are up in Alaska experiencing 30 days of night. Oh you want some plot do you? Fine...small Alaska town...vampires attack and kill people since the sun does not come out at all for 30 days...nuff said.


The film does have some low points, the whole evil child vampire has been done to death in a 100 films before this and although Josh does a good job I thought the ending was very cheesy Hollywood. Also what's up with the final fight seen? Someone leave me a comment about that below and please explain it. Even if your not a fan of horror or a film geek like myself this movie is worth a rent for the feeling of darkness and the cinematography. If you ARE a film geek this DVD has got to be nominated for one of the best "Film Schools in a Box" for 2008. It's has over 5 features and they are amazing. Everything from how they filmed all the night scenes over the course of 33 nights, to how they shot in the cold, to how they trained the actors to act like vampires. All amazing stuff. It also features some great candid interviews from the Director and all the actors. If you want to see some samples of  them watch below and then rent or buy the DVD to watch them all. So go rent or buy this one and then try taking that shower in the Dark....I dare you.

I give the DVD a B-

The guys from EFX-TEK filmed a "commercial" at Transworld 2008 talking about their products. Both Jon and John are great guys, and anyone who build props should really look into their products.

http://www.moviefxmag.com/efxtest.mov

- Liam

Come check out some cool photos from Transworld 2008. Some are from us and some are from other great Flickr users. Be sure to add ALL your Haunted Attraction Photos to our Flickr Photo pool to get them some great exposure!

Liam's Photos



Hassrw2002 Photos

We know Transworld was back a few days but what can we say. Our correspondent got caught up in the "real world". Never fear as here is some goodness from Transworld.

'm sorry for the delay, after being away from work in the "real world" I was swamped with crap to catch up on at work! Stupid real world. Anyway, here are some of my favorites from the show:

Just wanted to say great job to all those who participated in the zombie march in Kelowna, BC (Canada) recently. Looks like there was a great turnout, and a few video takers, like these:

I saw this today and had to share it, even though it's not horror related.

That being said, you could get a scare out of someone if you tried.

It's called a "Phantom Keystroker."  And it is used to generate random keystrokes and mouse movements on someone's computer.

According to the website the device "periodically makes random mouse movements and types out odd garbage text and phrases."

Sounds like a heck of an April Fools joke to me.

Find out more here.