In the 1930s, Universal laid claim to the two biggest horror stars of the era, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, and it was only a matter of time before the pair would meet on screen. In 1932, only months after each rocketed to stardom in Dracula and Frankenstein respectively, the two were dressed in tuxedoes and brought together for a genial photoshoot that simultaneously announced their partnership and implied a rivalry. Through a series of circumstances, it was another two years before the pair would star in a film together. As one might expect, it was in the most transgressive horror film of the era, 1934’s The Black Cat, a film that remains shocking not only for the early 1930s but even more surprising as a product overseen by the newly enforced Hays Code.
The Code had been established in 1927 as a self-censoring wing of the motion picture industry and an attempt to avoid government censorship.
The Code had been established in 1927 as a self-censoring wing of the motion picture industry and an attempt to avoid government censorship.
- 2/26/2024
- by Brian Keiper
- bloody-disgusting.com
He brought one of the most iconic characters of all time to life on the silver screen with his portrayal of Count Dracula in 1931, but there is still much about Béla Lugosi that is waiting to be discovered, and in his new book Béla Lugosi: The Man Behind the Cape, author Robert Cremer shines a celebratory light on Lugosi's amazing life like never before. With Béla Lugosi: The Man Behind the Cape now on Kickstarter via Clover Press, we caught up with Cremer and Béla Lugosi's granddaughter and CEO of Lugosi Enterprises, Lynne Lugosi Sparks, to discuss what readers can expect from the ambitious new biography!
Thank you for taking the time to answer questions for us, Robert, and congratulations on your new biography Béla Lugosi: The Man Behind the Cape! When did your fascination with Béla Lugosi begin, and what made you want to write a biography about the legendary actor?...
Thank you for taking the time to answer questions for us, Robert, and congratulations on your new biography Béla Lugosi: The Man Behind the Cape! When did your fascination with Béla Lugosi begin, and what made you want to write a biography about the legendary actor?...
- 10/25/2023
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Parody of Classic Monster Movies Has Laughs, Drama and a Few Genuine Scares. Horror nerds all know that Bela Lugosi Jr. successfully sued Universal Pictures for the right to control his famous father’s image. Now imagine that Dracula himself counter-sued both of them! That was the inspiration writer Owen Hammer had for Von Bach — …
The post Horror Fans Find “Von Bach” Frighteningly Funny – Horror/Satire Comic “Von Bach” Issue 3 appeared first on Hnn | Horrornews.net.
The post Horror Fans Find “Von Bach” Frighteningly Funny – Horror/Satire Comic “Von Bach” Issue 3 appeared first on Hnn | Horrornews.net.
- 8/23/2020
- by Adrian Halen
- Horror News
We're back with another installment of Horror Highlights! Today, we have a look at the Von Bach comic book series, release details and the trailer for Evil Takes Root, news of the In Another Room podcast, and photos from Come True:
Classic Monsters Live in Hammer Comics' Von Bach: "Horror Fans Find “Von Bach” Frighteningly Funny. Parody of Classic Monster Movies Has Laughs, Drama and a Few Genuine Scares.
Horror nerds all know that Bela Lugosi Jr. successfully sued Universal Pictures for the right to control his famous father’s image. Now imagine that Dracula himself counter-sued both of them! That was the inspiration writer Owen Hammer had for Von Bach — the story of an undead monster who sues a major Hollywood studio for making a horror movie about him.
In “Von Bach” chapter 1, the unnatural works of a mad scientist Von Bach are compared to Hollywood movies.
Von Bach...
Classic Monsters Live in Hammer Comics' Von Bach: "Horror Fans Find “Von Bach” Frighteningly Funny. Parody of Classic Monster Movies Has Laughs, Drama and a Few Genuine Scares.
Horror nerds all know that Bela Lugosi Jr. successfully sued Universal Pictures for the right to control his famous father’s image. Now imagine that Dracula himself counter-sued both of them! That was the inspiration writer Owen Hammer had for Von Bach — the story of an undead monster who sues a major Hollywood studio for making a horror movie about him.
In “Von Bach” chapter 1, the unnatural works of a mad scientist Von Bach are compared to Hollywood movies.
Von Bach...
- 8/5/2020
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
The Los Angeles Film Festival may have come to the end of its days after its final edition last fall, the TCM Classic Film Festival wrapped its 10th year last month, and AFI Fest waits until Oscar season to trot out contenders. But now the town has a brand new festival of a very different stripe, and it is taking place right in the heart of Hollywood.
MaltinFest, the brainchild of famed film critic and historian Leonard Maltin, his daughter Jessie (who pitched the idea to her dad) and wife Alice, is set to launch its first edition at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood on Friday, and it will be running all weekend. It is sort of the West Coast answer to the venerable EbertFest in Chicago, which the late Pulitzer Prize-winning critic started to largely honor overlooked films he admired (it has been carried on in style by Ebert...
MaltinFest, the brainchild of famed film critic and historian Leonard Maltin, his daughter Jessie (who pitched the idea to her dad) and wife Alice, is set to launch its first edition at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood on Friday, and it will be running all weekend. It is sort of the West Coast answer to the venerable EbertFest in Chicago, which the late Pulitzer Prize-winning critic started to largely honor overlooked films he admired (it has been carried on in style by Ebert...
- 5/9/2019
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
This past weekend, genre entertainment fans gathered by the thousands in Pasadena, CA for one of the most anticipated horror events of the year, Monsterpalooza! Makeup artists, painters, sculptors, and general purveyors of the weird took up space in the Pasadena Convention hall to show off their creations and peddle nostalgic collectibles. Guests at the event included Linda Blair (The Exorcist, Hell Night), Haruo Nakajima (original Godzilla suit actor), Casper Van Dien (Starship Troopers, Sleepy Hollow), Dina Meyer (Dragonheart, Starship Troopers), Jake Busey (The Frighteners, Starship Troopers), Doug Bradley (Hellraiser franchise), Famous Monsters cover artist Basil Gogos, and representatives from the classic horror families including Bela Lugosi Jr., Victoria Price, Sara Karloff, and The Chaney Family. Jj Abrams was spotted perusing the dealers hall among other faces ranging from Lost star Jorge Garcia to Dick Van Dyke! Highlights of the weekend included a tribute to Famous Monsters founder Forrest J...
- 4/25/2016
- by Caroline Stephenson
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
In case you missed it, we’re movie stars now. Don’t worry, we’ll still have your backs. Unless Leo texts. In which case, we’ve already forgotten who you are. But until then we love you! So check us out in our Silver Scream Fest video! It’s got Freddy Krueger, John Landis, David Naughton, seven-time Oscar winner Rick Baker, Heather Langenkamp, Bela Lugosi Jr., and artists and comics and popcorn and awards and filmmakers and parties and Us! The Film Squad did a fantastic job both making us look pretty and capturing the essence of the event!
- 4/8/2016
- by Harker Jones
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
The Silver Scream Fest was in high gear Saturday, March 5, with a screening of Heather Langenkamp’s documentary I Am Nancy, focusing on her life post A Nightmare On Elm Street; a conversation with Bela Lugosi Jr. about his father’s legacy and the Golden Age of Hollywood; screenings of four of Lugosi Sr.’s classic films; a tribute to the late great Wes Craven by his Elm Street stars Langenkamp and Robert Englund and producer Marianne Maddalena and a screening of New Nightmare; a reunion of An American Werewolf In London’s director John Landis, special effects guru Rick Baker, and star David Naughton; screenings of the fantastic fest films; and so much more. Check out the magic below! And check out Friday’s gallery here!
All photos courtesy the Film Squad.
All photos courtesy the Film Squad.
- 4/1/2016
- by Harker Jones
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
Day 1 of the Silver Scream Fest was a screaming success. From Robert Englund cutting the ribbon with his Freddy glove to artist Rob Prior creating a Freddy portrait in the theater lobby to a screening of A Nightmare On Elm Street to a tribute to the late, great Wes Craven, there was something for every fan and fiend. Take a look at the gallery to relive the magic. Galleries of Days 2 and 3 are coming with photos from the American Werewolf In London reunion, Bela Lugosi Jr., and much more!
All photos courtesy the Film Squad.
All photos courtesy the Film Squad.
- 3/22/2016
- by Harker Jones
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
Paul Feig tweeted a photo of four Ghostbusters reboot figures on Friday that look pretty rad. We have details, as well as a look at the figures, below. A Q&A with Daniel Abella, the director of the Philip K. Dick Film Festival, and info on Robert Englund's upcoming appearance at Silver Scream Festival, are also in this round-up.
Mattel's Ghostbusters Figures: The photo below features the prototypes of all four of the figures which stand at six inches tall. The official release date for these items is not available at this time.
Starring Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig, and Leslie Jones, Paul Feig's Ghostbusters reboot is slated to hit theaters on July 15th, 2016. Chris Hemsworth will play Kevin the receptionist, with Andy Garcia, Matt Walsh, Michael Kenneth Williams, and Cecily Strong also along for the ride.
Original Ghostbusters stars Ernie Hudson, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Annie Potts,...
Mattel's Ghostbusters Figures: The photo below features the prototypes of all four of the figures which stand at six inches tall. The official release date for these items is not available at this time.
Starring Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig, and Leslie Jones, Paul Feig's Ghostbusters reboot is slated to hit theaters on July 15th, 2016. Chris Hemsworth will play Kevin the receptionist, with Andy Garcia, Matt Walsh, Michael Kenneth Williams, and Cecily Strong also along for the ride.
Original Ghostbusters stars Ernie Hudson, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Annie Potts,...
- 1/9/2016
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
Fear is an intricate emotion, which triggers visible physical reactions but profoundly affects one’s psyche in ways far more destructive. It thrives on uncertainty as it serves to prevent us from facing danger and experiencing pain. It’s because of this that death, the most certain part of our mortal lives, ranks high on the list of things we fear. It can happen anywhere, at any time, for countless reasons, it’s permanent, and yet its aftermath is unknown.
Enthralled by this idea, Edgar Allan Poe explored humanity’s relationship with its fatal destiny by writing fiction that focused on the supernatural, on evil, and alternate realities, attempting to decipher this terrifying concept. “Extraordinary Tales," Raul Garcia's animated anthology, takes five of these stories by revered writer and transforms them into stylistically distinct shorts that are as visually striking as they are spine-chilling.
The Spanish animator became fascinated with Poe and his otherworldly stories at an early age, but worked on an array of projects before finally bringing one of his favorite authors to the screen by simultaneously honoring numerous other artists that have influenced his career. Each of the five segments in "Extraordinary Tales" is inspired by a different aesthetic, which makes for an eclectic showcase of what 3D animation could be beyond the mainstream conventions.
To make the film an even more compelling affair, Garcia was able to recruit some of the most important and iconic voices in genre cinema. Bela Lugosi reappears from beyond the grave thanks to a previously unreleased recording, Christopher Lee returns to horror one final time to narrate one of the episodes, Roger Corman continues to demonstrate his love for Poe by voicing one of the characters, and Guillermo del Toro shows his voice acting talents in an unexpected fashion.
During our conversation Garcia talked about his artistic influences, being an independent animator today, getting to work with his childhood heroes, and the biggest mistake horror films make when trying to instill fear.
How did you fall in love with Edgar Allan Poe's stories? What was the seed that sparked this fascination with his work that compelled you to create this beautiful animated anthology?
Raul Garcia: The seed was planted when I was bout 12-years-old because the firs adult book I read was a compilation of Poe’s stories. That was the first book for grown-ups I read [Laughs]. Then there was my passion as an avid comic book and graphic novel reader. I’ve always leaned towards the dark side, so it was the perfect combination. Since then, I’ve been a fan of horror literature and science fiction and fantasy as well. That first book was the seed that started it all.
Edgar Allan Poe’s stories have been adapted countless because it seems like they lend themselves to interpretation and experimentation. How did you approach the material to make your animated versions distinct from the rest?
Raul Garcia: There are thousands of different film adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe’s works everywhere. Obviously, the ones that most of us know are the ones done by Roger Corman in the 60s with Vincent Price, which were not really adaptations because they only used the titles as an excuse to make a horror film. When I decided to make my version of Poe’s stories, I wanted to respect the original material or to at least get closer to what his stories are really about. Most other adaptations I’ve seen sort of follow the story but they never satisfy me as an audience member or as a reader. I wanted to get closer to the spirit of the stories more than than to the text itself. I didn’t necessarily want to do it verbatim, but there are some lines of dialogue that I’ve taken literally from Poe’s writings. I wanted to make adaptations that distilled the essence of what attracted me about these stories in the first place.
Each segment has a very particular stylistic approach. While they are all beautiful in their own right, each showcases an eclectic mix of textures and influences. How did each visual style originate?
Raul Garcia: Everything started with “The Tell-Tale Heart," which was the first short I made for this project, which originally was supposed to be a one-off. This was a story that I wanted to tell with art inspired by one of the greatest comic book artist there is, Alberto Breccia. He was Argentine comic book artist. It was about adapting his style to this story. Departing from this decision I created a set rules for myself, which I would apply to the rest of the stories. Since for this first story I had used Breccia’s art as the basis, I thought that for the rest of the stories I would try to reconnect with all the artistic influences I’ve had in my life and apply them in a way that had something to do with the spirit of the each story. I searched for things that attracted in terms of artistic styles and I tried to adapt them into the world of animation to make these short films.
For example, in “The Fall of the House of Usher,” the idea was for the characters to look as if they were carved out of wood, like if they were figures that belonged to Czech animator Jirí Trnka. In “The Masque of the Red Death,” the biggest influence was Egon Schiele and Bruegel. Egon Schiele worked with oil paint, but he used very thin layers of paint which made his works look like watercolors. I tried to resemble that to create moving painting for that’s story. That short is one of my favorites, because in Poe’s original story there is no dialogue except for the line that’s in the short. It’s all very descriptive. This really represented a challenged that allowed me to have fun during the process of creating it. I’ve always tried to find those distinct approaches because this is a 3D animated film and I wanted to stay away from the style that all 3D animated films have today. They are all rendered in the same manner with photorealist textures. I tried to make something much more pictorial, so that the audience wouldn’t know if they were watching something done in 3D, 2D, in oil paintings, or made out of cut-outs.
The segment based on “The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar” looks very much like if it was a 2D animated film. It's interesting to hear it was all 3D.
Raul Garcia Yes. Poe wrote that story as if it was a real case or the study written by a scientist taking notes from an experiment. When it was published people thought that the case in the story actually happened. People though that what they were reading were the notes taken by a scientist that had brought a corpse back to life. Having this in mind, my approach to find the right style was to look at medical illustrations and to make the animation look like if it was taken from a medical journal. However, and because I think I should also tell you about the bad experiences, I have to admit that approach didn’t work. I didn’t like how it looked. It felt very cold and calculated. But then, I reread the story and realized that this story was over the top, very exaggerated. Then I thought about the horror comic books that I read when I was kid, which shared this outrageous and exaggerated spirit.
That’s when I decided to make this story based on the look of horror comic books from the 50s, which were printed on cheap paper and only used four different color inks. They were printed using the Cmyk color model, so the color spectrum used was very small. Colorists, who used to be very underpaid, did what they could with these four colors. Sometimes in one panel a face was blue and in the next one the same face was red, and nobody cared about having any sort of continuity [Laughs]. I applied this color limitation to this story. Besides the fact that the style is very much inspired by those comic books, the animation is also animated as if it was 2D. In computer animation each second is created by 24 frames and each one of these 24 frames is different. In 2D animation, to save time and money, you create 12 drawings and each drawing is used twice. In one second created of 24 frames you really only have 12 frames. I tried to do it this segment using this process as if it was 2D because it gives the animation a different cadence in comparison to the rest of the stories.
Then you have “The Pit and the Pendulum,” which is in a sense hyperrealist even though it still feels like there are elements of fine art in it.
Raul Garcia: That one was interesting because the original story takes place in a prison and there is only one character. When I started thinking about how to make these stories, what I wanted was to experiment with different types of animation and see how far we could get in terms of technology. Initially, I wanted to make this segment using motion capture. At the time I thought that films made using motion capture always looked bad, and I wanted to know why! [Laughs]. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a motion capture team to make it. At that moment the challenge changed, and we decided to make something hyperrealist - something I personally hate [Laughs]. I decided we should make something hyperrealist but with more traditional 3D animation and see how refined and subtle we could make it without using motion capture or any real life references. That’s how the style for this one came about, which I think it’s a blend between Goya and Nicéphore Niépce and the beginning of photography, mixed with those prisons that Piranesi drew in his carvings. What I’ve tried to do is give myself the pleasure and luxury to explore the universes of the artists I admire.
One of the many remarkable qualities of the film is that every segment captures the unsettling tone of the stories. The macabre atmosphere, regardless of which style you are using, is subtle but always present. At times it's truly terrifying.
Raul Garcia: Let’s remember that one of the biggest problems with horror cinema is showing too much. When horror turns into gore, when you show the monster, the killings, and the blood, it loses its suggestive powers. It loses part of what makes a horror film a horror film, which is that the images you see develop in your brain and you become the one imagining what you are not seeing on screen. You give the audience a bit of information, and he or she fills in the blanks with the most horrifying things they can think of. That was a key element I wanted to preserve. I didn’t want to make to make something very graphic, but instead maintain that mental introspection so that the viewer could put himself in that situation and imagine what’s happening.
In terms of the voice cast, you managed to put together and incredible cast including a voice from beyond the grave in a sense. The legendary Bela Lugosi returns thanks to your film. How did you obtain this recording?
Raul Garcia: It was a stroke of luck. I’m originally from Spain, so I’ve always read Edgar Allan Poe’s works in Spanish and at some point I wanted to enjoy the original material in English. For several years now I’ve been collecting narrated versions of Poe’s works. When I was getting ready to make “The Tell-Tale Heart, “ I discovered a recording of Bella Lugosi narrating this tale on Ebay. It was a cassette tape that was a copy of the original. It was the copy of the copy, of the copy, of the copy [Laughs]. When I finally got it the first thing I did was contact Bela G. Lugosi, his son who handles the Bela Lugosi’s state, and I discovered that this recording had never been published or released. Bela G. Lugosi didn’t even have in his archive, as it had been lost. Nobody had heard it and it hadn’t been exploited at all. I restored it as best as I could, but since I made that short in 2006 the technology was probably not as good as it's now. I tried to digitally polish it as much as possible to remove the static sound. But even though I wasn’t completely successful, I think that this static you hear gives the narration an unsettling quality. It sounds like something from another time that has returned after many years.
He was an icon in the horror genre, which makes it even more special for a film like "Extraordinary Tale."
Raul Garcia: Absolutely. This was the first short I did, so when I decided that it would instead be an anthology of several shorts, the bar was very high in terms of the voices that I could use. If the first one is someone as big as Bela Lugosi, who could be next? That pushed me to seek voices that meant something in the world of science fiction, fantasy and horror. The next short I made was “The Fall of the House of Usher,” and evidently Christopher Lee was the number candidate on my wish list.
How did you manage to get Christopher Lee to be a part of the film? "Extraordinary Tales" is the last film project he worked on before, unfortunately, passing away.
Raul Garcia: Unfortunately, as you point out, it's his last film appearance. But on the other hand, we were so fortunate to have his talent because it was really an incredible experience to work with him. It was very emotional for me, I was working with my childhood idol. It was great. When I recorded his voice, Christopher Lee was 89-years-old. He wasn’t very interested in revisiting horror cinema because at the time he was focused on becoming the lead singer of a heavy metal band [Laughs]. He was recording an album that was sort of like a heavy-metal-rock-opera based on the Charlemagne’s life. He was so passionate about it. It was hard to believe that an 89-year-old man had so much energy to do that. When I showed him the artwork he changed his mind and he agreed to do it. It was also funny that he didn’t want to go to a recording studio to do it. We set up a recording studio in his home so he could record it whenever he felt inspired.
Then you have Guillermo Del Toro, who has become Hollywood’s genre master working in horror, fantasy, and science fiction, and more recently in animation. How did he come on board?
Raul Garcia: Guillermo and I have been friends since the time he lived in Spain, and when I was searching for voices that were meaningful and important in the horror and fantasy genres he was high on my list. I know that deep inside Guillermo has a thing for acting, which he never talks about [Laughs]. I asked him to narrate the short and he agreed immediately. Then we had to chase him for a couple years because he has been extremely busy in the last few years, and we could never find the right time to do it. In the end we did it and Guillermo really gave it his all. His narration is very interesting and intriguing because it’s not the Guillermo we know. It’s a different facet of his talent that nobody knew about
Tell me about the process of creating the frame narrative in which Poe, in the shape of the iconic raven, has a dialogue with Death. This conversations connect the five major segments and give insight into the tormented mind of the artist.
Raul Garcia: I wanted to make a feature-length work and I didn’t like the idea of just putting one short after the other. It felt to me like it would look like a shorts program at a festival without any relationship between them, when in fact the relationship between them is Poe and his personal story. These interludes or framing segments where the last to be produced and at that point we were out of money, out of time, out of patience, out of everything [Laughs]. As I was working on each of the shorts the framing story that would unite them changed. Initially I wanted to unite the stories with this epic framing narrative where we would see the last day in Poe’s life as he went drunk from bar to bar until he dies. Then it changed to a story where Poe was lonely walking down the street towards the cemetery and finding different things that would remind him of his stories along the way.
As we got farther into production of the five major segments the framing narrative kept on changing and becoming shorter. In the end it became this dialogue between Poe and Death, which is like Scheherazade and the One Thousand and One Nights, where they tell each other stories. Poe wants to postpone his own death, while Death wants to convince him that if he is so miserable he might be better off dead. The biggest problem I faced, and which was truly a nightmare, is that as a viewer I don’t really like anthology films where there are connecting segments in between the stories, like George A. Romero's "Creepshow." As a viewer, when we get to the interludes or the framing narrative, what I’m thinking is, “Come on, Come, on, start the next story already!” [Laughs]. That’s why I really thought about the rhythm of these segments to try to precent the viewer from thinking, “I don’t want to see this. I want to see the next story.” I also wanted to give the viewer small doses of information needed for the whole story to make sense and for it to have structure.
Why do you think Edgar Allan Poe became so fascinated, even obsessed, with death and the darker and more disturbing aspects of the human condition?
Raul Garcia: Poe lived in a very romantic time. His life was the life of the typical tortured artist. His mother died when he was very young and his wife also died very young. In the Victorian era the health standards and life expectancy weren’t very high, thus death was a constant possibility lurking around. Besides this, his turbulent life turn him into a taciturn man with mental health issues. I think this really had an effect in the obsession he had with death. More than with death in general, he was obsessed with the possibility of being buried alive and discovering that he had to hold on to life even after death.
His work definitely set a precedent in the horror genre and in literature as a whole.
Raul Garcia: He was the first one to write horror stories. Without Poe probably Sherlock Holmes wouldn’t have been written because when Poe wrote the adventures of Dupin, like The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Purloined Letter, he was setting up the basis for what would become the detective novel. In a way Poe was a big influence for Conan Doyle to create Sherlock Holmes. I think he really did influence many artist of the time like Baudelaire, who was a big fan of Poe, and who was the one that brought attention to Poe’s work in Europe. That’s how another generation of writers like Lord Dunsany, Ambrose Bierce, and many others were influenced by Poe’s stories.
Besides working in the U.S. you've worked in animated projects in Spain and Latin America, what's the most difficult aspect about creating animation in countries that are not necessarily seen as animation producers or that perhaps haven't fully developed the infrastructure for it?
Raul Garcia: I’ve worked in animation for a long time. I started in Spain and I wanted to make feature films. That desire to figure out how to make animated features brought me to the U.S. to work for Disney. Now things are different, in recent years technology has made it easier to make animated films than it used to be maybe 15 or 20 years ago. This has made it possible for the latent talents that are in countries without a tradition in animation to explore, learn, and create work. The biggest problem in countries that don’t have a tradition in animation or a film industry, is that precisely, that it’s not an industrial activity as it is in Hollywood where there are clear production procedures. Because of this we all become snipers making our films any way we can and crossing our fingers to get distribution so people can see them.
In a certain way working in animation has become very democratic because now anyone with the right technology can at least prepare a project from home in order to attract investors. Some people can even set up a small home studio and start working. Making features is much more complicated and expensive, but on the other hand, and thanks to this ubiquity and the decentralization of animation, anyone even in a small town can work with an animation program, stay in touch with people in other parts of the world, and manage to produce a film. That’s what we’ve done with "Extraordinary Tales,”although the film is a co-production between Luxembourg, Belgium, Spain and the U.S, in the end Mexican talent worked on it, people all over Spain worked on it, and even people in Honduras worked on it doing some modeling. With small teams across the world we managed to unite everyone’s talent to make the film.
"Extraordinary Tales" is finally opening in the U.S. Now that the cycle for this film is getting to its final stage, are you already working on your next project? Are you pursuing another horror writer to adapt into animation?
Raul Garcia: Independence can be tough. Without a studio to back you up, when you finish a feature and want to start a new project you have to start from zero. The next thing I want to do is to bring to the screen a novel by Cornelia Funke, she is also the voice of Death in “Extraordinary Tales.” She is a German author who wrote the novel “Inkheart,” which was made into a film a few years ago. The book I want to adapt is called “Young Werewolf,” but my version would be titled “Bitten." I’m still trying to find the initial financing that will allow me to get started and get things going. Once the initial financing is secured the rest becomes easier, and just like with “Extraordinary Tales,” we can make a film with the cooperation of several small studios. For example, another film I worked on was the Mexican animated feature “El Americano,” which was mostly made in Tijuana but also had teams in Puebla and Los Angeles. It’s possible, but you do have to have the financial infrastructure behind you so this can work. In the world of independent animation there are many projects that are never completed because they lack that structure.
"Extraordinary Tales" is now playing in L.A. at the Sundance Sunset Cinemas and In NYC at IFC Center.
Enthralled by this idea, Edgar Allan Poe explored humanity’s relationship with its fatal destiny by writing fiction that focused on the supernatural, on evil, and alternate realities, attempting to decipher this terrifying concept. “Extraordinary Tales," Raul Garcia's animated anthology, takes five of these stories by revered writer and transforms them into stylistically distinct shorts that are as visually striking as they are spine-chilling.
The Spanish animator became fascinated with Poe and his otherworldly stories at an early age, but worked on an array of projects before finally bringing one of his favorite authors to the screen by simultaneously honoring numerous other artists that have influenced his career. Each of the five segments in "Extraordinary Tales" is inspired by a different aesthetic, which makes for an eclectic showcase of what 3D animation could be beyond the mainstream conventions.
To make the film an even more compelling affair, Garcia was able to recruit some of the most important and iconic voices in genre cinema. Bela Lugosi reappears from beyond the grave thanks to a previously unreleased recording, Christopher Lee returns to horror one final time to narrate one of the episodes, Roger Corman continues to demonstrate his love for Poe by voicing one of the characters, and Guillermo del Toro shows his voice acting talents in an unexpected fashion.
During our conversation Garcia talked about his artistic influences, being an independent animator today, getting to work with his childhood heroes, and the biggest mistake horror films make when trying to instill fear.
How did you fall in love with Edgar Allan Poe's stories? What was the seed that sparked this fascination with his work that compelled you to create this beautiful animated anthology?
Raul Garcia: The seed was planted when I was bout 12-years-old because the firs adult book I read was a compilation of Poe’s stories. That was the first book for grown-ups I read [Laughs]. Then there was my passion as an avid comic book and graphic novel reader. I’ve always leaned towards the dark side, so it was the perfect combination. Since then, I’ve been a fan of horror literature and science fiction and fantasy as well. That first book was the seed that started it all.
Edgar Allan Poe’s stories have been adapted countless because it seems like they lend themselves to interpretation and experimentation. How did you approach the material to make your animated versions distinct from the rest?
Raul Garcia: There are thousands of different film adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe’s works everywhere. Obviously, the ones that most of us know are the ones done by Roger Corman in the 60s with Vincent Price, which were not really adaptations because they only used the titles as an excuse to make a horror film. When I decided to make my version of Poe’s stories, I wanted to respect the original material or to at least get closer to what his stories are really about. Most other adaptations I’ve seen sort of follow the story but they never satisfy me as an audience member or as a reader. I wanted to get closer to the spirit of the stories more than than to the text itself. I didn’t necessarily want to do it verbatim, but there are some lines of dialogue that I’ve taken literally from Poe’s writings. I wanted to make adaptations that distilled the essence of what attracted me about these stories in the first place.
Each segment has a very particular stylistic approach. While they are all beautiful in their own right, each showcases an eclectic mix of textures and influences. How did each visual style originate?
Raul Garcia: Everything started with “The Tell-Tale Heart," which was the first short I made for this project, which originally was supposed to be a one-off. This was a story that I wanted to tell with art inspired by one of the greatest comic book artist there is, Alberto Breccia. He was Argentine comic book artist. It was about adapting his style to this story. Departing from this decision I created a set rules for myself, which I would apply to the rest of the stories. Since for this first story I had used Breccia’s art as the basis, I thought that for the rest of the stories I would try to reconnect with all the artistic influences I’ve had in my life and apply them in a way that had something to do with the spirit of the each story. I searched for things that attracted in terms of artistic styles and I tried to adapt them into the world of animation to make these short films.
For example, in “The Fall of the House of Usher,” the idea was for the characters to look as if they were carved out of wood, like if they were figures that belonged to Czech animator Jirí Trnka. In “The Masque of the Red Death,” the biggest influence was Egon Schiele and Bruegel. Egon Schiele worked with oil paint, but he used very thin layers of paint which made his works look like watercolors. I tried to resemble that to create moving painting for that’s story. That short is one of my favorites, because in Poe’s original story there is no dialogue except for the line that’s in the short. It’s all very descriptive. This really represented a challenged that allowed me to have fun during the process of creating it. I’ve always tried to find those distinct approaches because this is a 3D animated film and I wanted to stay away from the style that all 3D animated films have today. They are all rendered in the same manner with photorealist textures. I tried to make something much more pictorial, so that the audience wouldn’t know if they were watching something done in 3D, 2D, in oil paintings, or made out of cut-outs.
The segment based on “The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar” looks very much like if it was a 2D animated film. It's interesting to hear it was all 3D.
Raul Garcia Yes. Poe wrote that story as if it was a real case or the study written by a scientist taking notes from an experiment. When it was published people thought that the case in the story actually happened. People though that what they were reading were the notes taken by a scientist that had brought a corpse back to life. Having this in mind, my approach to find the right style was to look at medical illustrations and to make the animation look like if it was taken from a medical journal. However, and because I think I should also tell you about the bad experiences, I have to admit that approach didn’t work. I didn’t like how it looked. It felt very cold and calculated. But then, I reread the story and realized that this story was over the top, very exaggerated. Then I thought about the horror comic books that I read when I was kid, which shared this outrageous and exaggerated spirit.
That’s when I decided to make this story based on the look of horror comic books from the 50s, which were printed on cheap paper and only used four different color inks. They were printed using the Cmyk color model, so the color spectrum used was very small. Colorists, who used to be very underpaid, did what they could with these four colors. Sometimes in one panel a face was blue and in the next one the same face was red, and nobody cared about having any sort of continuity [Laughs]. I applied this color limitation to this story. Besides the fact that the style is very much inspired by those comic books, the animation is also animated as if it was 2D. In computer animation each second is created by 24 frames and each one of these 24 frames is different. In 2D animation, to save time and money, you create 12 drawings and each drawing is used twice. In one second created of 24 frames you really only have 12 frames. I tried to do it this segment using this process as if it was 2D because it gives the animation a different cadence in comparison to the rest of the stories.
Then you have “The Pit and the Pendulum,” which is in a sense hyperrealist even though it still feels like there are elements of fine art in it.
Raul Garcia: That one was interesting because the original story takes place in a prison and there is only one character. When I started thinking about how to make these stories, what I wanted was to experiment with different types of animation and see how far we could get in terms of technology. Initially, I wanted to make this segment using motion capture. At the time I thought that films made using motion capture always looked bad, and I wanted to know why! [Laughs]. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a motion capture team to make it. At that moment the challenge changed, and we decided to make something hyperrealist - something I personally hate [Laughs]. I decided we should make something hyperrealist but with more traditional 3D animation and see how refined and subtle we could make it without using motion capture or any real life references. That’s how the style for this one came about, which I think it’s a blend between Goya and Nicéphore Niépce and the beginning of photography, mixed with those prisons that Piranesi drew in his carvings. What I’ve tried to do is give myself the pleasure and luxury to explore the universes of the artists I admire.
One of the many remarkable qualities of the film is that every segment captures the unsettling tone of the stories. The macabre atmosphere, regardless of which style you are using, is subtle but always present. At times it's truly terrifying.
Raul Garcia: Let’s remember that one of the biggest problems with horror cinema is showing too much. When horror turns into gore, when you show the monster, the killings, and the blood, it loses its suggestive powers. It loses part of what makes a horror film a horror film, which is that the images you see develop in your brain and you become the one imagining what you are not seeing on screen. You give the audience a bit of information, and he or she fills in the blanks with the most horrifying things they can think of. That was a key element I wanted to preserve. I didn’t want to make to make something very graphic, but instead maintain that mental introspection so that the viewer could put himself in that situation and imagine what’s happening.
In terms of the voice cast, you managed to put together and incredible cast including a voice from beyond the grave in a sense. The legendary Bela Lugosi returns thanks to your film. How did you obtain this recording?
Raul Garcia: It was a stroke of luck. I’m originally from Spain, so I’ve always read Edgar Allan Poe’s works in Spanish and at some point I wanted to enjoy the original material in English. For several years now I’ve been collecting narrated versions of Poe’s works. When I was getting ready to make “The Tell-Tale Heart, “ I discovered a recording of Bella Lugosi narrating this tale on Ebay. It was a cassette tape that was a copy of the original. It was the copy of the copy, of the copy, of the copy [Laughs]. When I finally got it the first thing I did was contact Bela G. Lugosi, his son who handles the Bela Lugosi’s state, and I discovered that this recording had never been published or released. Bela G. Lugosi didn’t even have in his archive, as it had been lost. Nobody had heard it and it hadn’t been exploited at all. I restored it as best as I could, but since I made that short in 2006 the technology was probably not as good as it's now. I tried to digitally polish it as much as possible to remove the static sound. But even though I wasn’t completely successful, I think that this static you hear gives the narration an unsettling quality. It sounds like something from another time that has returned after many years.
He was an icon in the horror genre, which makes it even more special for a film like "Extraordinary Tale."
Raul Garcia: Absolutely. This was the first short I did, so when I decided that it would instead be an anthology of several shorts, the bar was very high in terms of the voices that I could use. If the first one is someone as big as Bela Lugosi, who could be next? That pushed me to seek voices that meant something in the world of science fiction, fantasy and horror. The next short I made was “The Fall of the House of Usher,” and evidently Christopher Lee was the number candidate on my wish list.
How did you manage to get Christopher Lee to be a part of the film? "Extraordinary Tales" is the last film project he worked on before, unfortunately, passing away.
Raul Garcia: Unfortunately, as you point out, it's his last film appearance. But on the other hand, we were so fortunate to have his talent because it was really an incredible experience to work with him. It was very emotional for me, I was working with my childhood idol. It was great. When I recorded his voice, Christopher Lee was 89-years-old. He wasn’t very interested in revisiting horror cinema because at the time he was focused on becoming the lead singer of a heavy metal band [Laughs]. He was recording an album that was sort of like a heavy-metal-rock-opera based on the Charlemagne’s life. He was so passionate about it. It was hard to believe that an 89-year-old man had so much energy to do that. When I showed him the artwork he changed his mind and he agreed to do it. It was also funny that he didn’t want to go to a recording studio to do it. We set up a recording studio in his home so he could record it whenever he felt inspired.
Then you have Guillermo Del Toro, who has become Hollywood’s genre master working in horror, fantasy, and science fiction, and more recently in animation. How did he come on board?
Raul Garcia: Guillermo and I have been friends since the time he lived in Spain, and when I was searching for voices that were meaningful and important in the horror and fantasy genres he was high on my list. I know that deep inside Guillermo has a thing for acting, which he never talks about [Laughs]. I asked him to narrate the short and he agreed immediately. Then we had to chase him for a couple years because he has been extremely busy in the last few years, and we could never find the right time to do it. In the end we did it and Guillermo really gave it his all. His narration is very interesting and intriguing because it’s not the Guillermo we know. It’s a different facet of his talent that nobody knew about
Tell me about the process of creating the frame narrative in which Poe, in the shape of the iconic raven, has a dialogue with Death. This conversations connect the five major segments and give insight into the tormented mind of the artist.
Raul Garcia: I wanted to make a feature-length work and I didn’t like the idea of just putting one short after the other. It felt to me like it would look like a shorts program at a festival without any relationship between them, when in fact the relationship between them is Poe and his personal story. These interludes or framing segments where the last to be produced and at that point we were out of money, out of time, out of patience, out of everything [Laughs]. As I was working on each of the shorts the framing story that would unite them changed. Initially I wanted to unite the stories with this epic framing narrative where we would see the last day in Poe’s life as he went drunk from bar to bar until he dies. Then it changed to a story where Poe was lonely walking down the street towards the cemetery and finding different things that would remind him of his stories along the way.
As we got farther into production of the five major segments the framing narrative kept on changing and becoming shorter. In the end it became this dialogue between Poe and Death, which is like Scheherazade and the One Thousand and One Nights, where they tell each other stories. Poe wants to postpone his own death, while Death wants to convince him that if he is so miserable he might be better off dead. The biggest problem I faced, and which was truly a nightmare, is that as a viewer I don’t really like anthology films where there are connecting segments in between the stories, like George A. Romero's "Creepshow." As a viewer, when we get to the interludes or the framing narrative, what I’m thinking is, “Come on, Come, on, start the next story already!” [Laughs]. That’s why I really thought about the rhythm of these segments to try to precent the viewer from thinking, “I don’t want to see this. I want to see the next story.” I also wanted to give the viewer small doses of information needed for the whole story to make sense and for it to have structure.
Why do you think Edgar Allan Poe became so fascinated, even obsessed, with death and the darker and more disturbing aspects of the human condition?
Raul Garcia: Poe lived in a very romantic time. His life was the life of the typical tortured artist. His mother died when he was very young and his wife also died very young. In the Victorian era the health standards and life expectancy weren’t very high, thus death was a constant possibility lurking around. Besides this, his turbulent life turn him into a taciturn man with mental health issues. I think this really had an effect in the obsession he had with death. More than with death in general, he was obsessed with the possibility of being buried alive and discovering that he had to hold on to life even after death.
His work definitely set a precedent in the horror genre and in literature as a whole.
Raul Garcia: He was the first one to write horror stories. Without Poe probably Sherlock Holmes wouldn’t have been written because when Poe wrote the adventures of Dupin, like The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Purloined Letter, he was setting up the basis for what would become the detective novel. In a way Poe was a big influence for Conan Doyle to create Sherlock Holmes. I think he really did influence many artist of the time like Baudelaire, who was a big fan of Poe, and who was the one that brought attention to Poe’s work in Europe. That’s how another generation of writers like Lord Dunsany, Ambrose Bierce, and many others were influenced by Poe’s stories.
Besides working in the U.S. you've worked in animated projects in Spain and Latin America, what's the most difficult aspect about creating animation in countries that are not necessarily seen as animation producers or that perhaps haven't fully developed the infrastructure for it?
Raul Garcia: I’ve worked in animation for a long time. I started in Spain and I wanted to make feature films. That desire to figure out how to make animated features brought me to the U.S. to work for Disney. Now things are different, in recent years technology has made it easier to make animated films than it used to be maybe 15 or 20 years ago. This has made it possible for the latent talents that are in countries without a tradition in animation to explore, learn, and create work. The biggest problem in countries that don’t have a tradition in animation or a film industry, is that precisely, that it’s not an industrial activity as it is in Hollywood where there are clear production procedures. Because of this we all become snipers making our films any way we can and crossing our fingers to get distribution so people can see them.
In a certain way working in animation has become very democratic because now anyone with the right technology can at least prepare a project from home in order to attract investors. Some people can even set up a small home studio and start working. Making features is much more complicated and expensive, but on the other hand, and thanks to this ubiquity and the decentralization of animation, anyone even in a small town can work with an animation program, stay in touch with people in other parts of the world, and manage to produce a film. That’s what we’ve done with "Extraordinary Tales,”although the film is a co-production between Luxembourg, Belgium, Spain and the U.S, in the end Mexican talent worked on it, people all over Spain worked on it, and even people in Honduras worked on it doing some modeling. With small teams across the world we managed to unite everyone’s talent to make the film.
"Extraordinary Tales" is finally opening in the U.S. Now that the cycle for this film is getting to its final stage, are you already working on your next project? Are you pursuing another horror writer to adapt into animation?
Raul Garcia: Independence can be tough. Without a studio to back you up, when you finish a feature and want to start a new project you have to start from zero. The next thing I want to do is to bring to the screen a novel by Cornelia Funke, she is also the voice of Death in “Extraordinary Tales.” She is a German author who wrote the novel “Inkheart,” which was made into a film a few years ago. The book I want to adapt is called “Young Werewolf,” but my version would be titled “Bitten." I’m still trying to find the initial financing that will allow me to get started and get things going. Once the initial financing is secured the rest becomes easier, and just like with “Extraordinary Tales,” we can make a film with the cooperation of several small studios. For example, another film I worked on was the Mexican animated feature “El Americano,” which was mostly made in Tijuana but also had teams in Puebla and Los Angeles. It’s possible, but you do have to have the financial infrastructure behind you so this can work. In the world of independent animation there are many projects that are never completed because they lack that structure.
"Extraordinary Tales" is now playing in L.A. at the Sundance Sunset Cinemas and In NYC at IFC Center.
- 10/24/2015
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
Out now in select theaters and on iTunes is Extraordinary Tales, an animated film anthology adapting five Edgar Allan Poe stories and boasting a voice cast that includes late legends Sir Christopher Lee and Bela Lugosi, as well as Julian Sands, Roger Corman, and Guillermo del Toro. For our latest Q&A feature, we caught up with director Raul Garcia to discuss his film's amazing vocal lineup and much more.
Thanks for taking the time to converse with us today, Raul. Based on the trailer for Extraordinary Tales, you obviously have a real passion for the works of Edgar Allan Poe. When did you first become a fan of his fiction?
Raul Garcia: Since a very early age, I was addicted to reading comic books and I especially loved horror comics. When I was 12 or so, I read Extraordinary Tales by Edgar Allan Poe, my first "grown up" book I ever read,...
Thanks for taking the time to converse with us today, Raul. Based on the trailer for Extraordinary Tales, you obviously have a real passion for the works of Edgar Allan Poe. When did you first become a fan of his fiction?
Raul Garcia: Since a very early age, I was addicted to reading comic books and I especially loved horror comics. When I was 12 or so, I read Extraordinary Tales by Edgar Allan Poe, my first "grown up" book I ever read,...
- 10/23/2015
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Rip Horror International Film Festival (RIPHorror) today announced the celebration tribute and festival events for this years festival held in Hollywood, Ca. starting on Oct. 14-31.
Among the honorees for the 3rd annual Festival are the “Legend of Horror” presented to Horror Icon Ivonna Cadaver (Macabre Theater); “Rising Star” recipient Megan Lee Joy (Shevenge); and the “Bloody Doll Awards”, will be presented as part of our “Women of Horror” (WH15) celebration this award is new and exclusive to Rip Horror this year and it will be presented to 3 Women that are at minimum both Director & Producer or the most talented triple threat; Writer, Director and Producer! Screenings will begin Oct. 14, 21, 28 at Echo Park Film Center, 1200 N. Alvarado Los Angeles, CA. & Oct. 30 & 31 at Los Feliz 3 Cinemas 1822 N Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027
Rip Horror is also expanding the 2015 festival from 2 to 5 days, with over 50 officially selected films; 7 World Premiers, 7 West Coast...
Among the honorees for the 3rd annual Festival are the “Legend of Horror” presented to Horror Icon Ivonna Cadaver (Macabre Theater); “Rising Star” recipient Megan Lee Joy (Shevenge); and the “Bloody Doll Awards”, will be presented as part of our “Women of Horror” (WH15) celebration this award is new and exclusive to Rip Horror this year and it will be presented to 3 Women that are at minimum both Director & Producer or the most talented triple threat; Writer, Director and Producer! Screenings will begin Oct. 14, 21, 28 at Echo Park Film Center, 1200 N. Alvarado Los Angeles, CA. & Oct. 30 & 31 at Los Feliz 3 Cinemas 1822 N Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027
Rip Horror is also expanding the 2015 festival from 2 to 5 days, with over 50 officially selected films; 7 World Premiers, 7 West Coast...
- 10/14/2015
- by admin
- MoreHorror
The Walker Stalkers podcast fans are in for a treat, as Robert Kirkman's Skybound Entertainment has officially partnered with Walker Stalkers, LLC and their increasingly popular Walker Stalker Con events. As part of their partnership, The Walker Stalkers podcast will be featured on Skybound's website and The Walking Dead Escape at the San Diego Comic-Con will be revamped. Also included in our latest round-up are new The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and Intruder T-shirts from Fright Rags, as well as details on Kirk Von Hammett's 2nd Annual Fear FestEvil, which has added Bill Moseley and many more special guests to its lineup and will feature a free Carnival of Chaos this year.
Skybound and Walker Stalker Con: Press Release - "Los Angeles, CA – March 26, 2015 – Robert Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment has announced a new partnership with Walker Stalkers, LLC. The collaboration will offer cutting edge interactive experiences for Walker Stalker Con attendees,...
Skybound and Walker Stalker Con: Press Release - "Los Angeles, CA – March 26, 2015 – Robert Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment has announced a new partnership with Walker Stalkers, LLC. The collaboration will offer cutting edge interactive experiences for Walker Stalker Con attendees,...
- 3/27/2015
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Of all the things I don’t collect, trading cards has to be the one thing I wish I did. There are various reasons why I don’t but I’ll get into that later…
Art is a subjective passion. What is art to one person can be nothing other than tin cans glued together on a backboard to another. Whatever your taste in art, there is simply no denying if a particular artist has a unique and special gift. Robert Aragon has such a gift. An artist who spans several genres, from horror to portraiture and various genres in between, Robert is an artist of many talents. For the past two decades he has been a top force in the horror art genre. Whether creating comic book and CD covers or portraits for the likes of Sara Karloff or Bela Lugosi Jr. Robert infuses a sense of pathos in every piece he creates.
Art is a subjective passion. What is art to one person can be nothing other than tin cans glued together on a backboard to another. Whatever your taste in art, there is simply no denying if a particular artist has a unique and special gift. Robert Aragon has such a gift. An artist who spans several genres, from horror to portraiture and various genres in between, Robert is an artist of many talents. For the past two decades he has been a top force in the horror art genre. Whether creating comic book and CD covers or portraits for the likes of Sara Karloff or Bela Lugosi Jr. Robert infuses a sense of pathos in every piece he creates.
- 11/22/2013
- by Dominic F
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
Tim Burton and Johnny Depp make the world's worst director look charming, despite some historical fact-bending
Director: Tim Burton
Entertainment grade: A–
History grade: B+
Edward D Wood Jr made low-budget Hollywood films in the 1950s, including Jail Bait, Night of the Ghouls and Plan 9 From Outer Space. In 1980, Plan 9 was voted the worst film of all time in the Golden Turkey awards. Wood was posthumously voted worst director.
Talent
It's 1953, and aspiring film-maker Eddie Wood (Johnny Depp) is thrilled to hear that a producer is filming the story of a famous transsexual. The reason? Wood himself loves wearing women's clothes, particularly angora sweaters. He pitches himself as writing, directing and starring – "just like Orson Welles did in Citizen Kane". The result – Glen or Glenda? – fell slightly short of the critical acclaim bestowed upon Welles's movie. The New York Times said "It isn't quite a camp classic, although...
Director: Tim Burton
Entertainment grade: A–
History grade: B+
Edward D Wood Jr made low-budget Hollywood films in the 1950s, including Jail Bait, Night of the Ghouls and Plan 9 From Outer Space. In 1980, Plan 9 was voted the worst film of all time in the Golden Turkey awards. Wood was posthumously voted worst director.
Talent
It's 1953, and aspiring film-maker Eddie Wood (Johnny Depp) is thrilled to hear that a producer is filming the story of a famous transsexual. The reason? Wood himself loves wearing women's clothes, particularly angora sweaters. He pitches himself as writing, directing and starring – "just like Orson Welles did in Citizen Kane". The result – Glen or Glenda? – fell slightly short of the critical acclaim bestowed upon Welles's movie. The New York Times said "It isn't quite a camp classic, although...
- 11/17/2011
- by Alex von Tunzelmann
- The Guardian - Film News
We got word today that a pretty interesting addition has been made to the "Monsterverse Horror Comics Ate My Brain" panel being held at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday, July 22nd: Werewolf screenwriter Michael Tabb.
Werewolf, you may recall, is the new stand-alone film from Universal that was originally slated to be a sequel to its less than warmly received The Wolfman from 2010. Maybe we'll finally get some clarification as to the exact nature of the upcoming film to be directed by Louis Morneau (reboot, redux, sequel, or what) during the panel.
As for his Monsterverse connection, Tabb will be writing a sinister nod to "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" for an upcoming issue of Monsterverse's acclaimed Bela Lugosi's Tales from the Grave horror anthology comic book series.
Prior to the addition of Michael Tabb, here are the Monsterverse panel details:
5:00-6:00 Monsterverse...
Werewolf, you may recall, is the new stand-alone film from Universal that was originally slated to be a sequel to its less than warmly received The Wolfman from 2010. Maybe we'll finally get some clarification as to the exact nature of the upcoming film to be directed by Louis Morneau (reboot, redux, sequel, or what) during the panel.
As for his Monsterverse connection, Tabb will be writing a sinister nod to "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" for an upcoming issue of Monsterverse's acclaimed Bela Lugosi's Tales from the Grave horror anthology comic book series.
Prior to the addition of Michael Tabb, here are the Monsterverse panel details:
5:00-6:00 Monsterverse...
- 7/16/2011
- by The Woman In Black
- DreadCentral.com
One of my favorite parts of living in New York was the ability to chow down at the famed Jekyll and Hyde restaurant. Sure the food sucks, but that's not what you go there for. It's all about atmosphere and I can't think of anywhere else you could get into a conversation with a haunted moose head over chicken fingers.
That is until now. According to the Press of Atlantic City developers in Atlantic City are working hard to create the Hollywood Horror Cafe, a horror-themed restaurant and wax museum, and they're doing so with some well acquainted figures of the genre.
[The folks involved] "were brought together by Sara Karloff, daughter of Hollywood horror legend Boris Karloff. Another famous horror movie name, Lugosi, also is part of the project. Bela Lugosi Jr., a California attorney and son of one of the best-known horror actors in the genre's history, has provided legal assistance for the development group.
That is until now. According to the Press of Atlantic City developers in Atlantic City are working hard to create the Hollywood Horror Cafe, a horror-themed restaurant and wax museum, and they're doing so with some well acquainted figures of the genre.
[The folks involved] "were brought together by Sara Karloff, daughter of Hollywood horror legend Boris Karloff. Another famous horror movie name, Lugosi, also is part of the project. Bela Lugosi Jr., a California attorney and son of one of the best-known horror actors in the genre's history, has provided legal assistance for the development group.
- 3/7/2011
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Ghouls may rise in New Jersey, and I'm not talking about the Jersey Shore cast. Developers in Atlantic City are looking into creating the Hollywood Horror Cafe, a horror-themed restaurant and wax museum. What you're looking at above is artwork for the attraction. A few familiar names are in on the project as well. Read on, courtesy of Press of Atlantic City. They were brought together by Sara Karloff, daughter of Hollywood horror legend Boris Karloff. Another famous horror movie name, Lugosi, also is part of the project. Bela Lugosi Jr., a California attorney and son of one of the best-known horror actors in the genre's history, has provided legal assistance for the development group. Sara Karloff and Bela Lugosi Jr. also have agreed to help the group through...
- 3/6/2011
- shocktillyoudrop.com
The new era of Famous Monsters of Filmland officially launched July, 2010 with a gathering of fans at Indianapolis’ Wyndham Indianapolis West hotel and the debut of the all-new FM #251. FM spoke to fans, celebs and volunteers to help write this (Cyclopean) eye-witness report.
Friday July 9
Publisher Phil Kim, FM magazine editor Jessie Lilley, editor-in-chief Michael Heisler, and a host of staff members begin their day before 7:00 a.m. to make the final preparations for the first time convention of the new FM. They are all aware that they have high expectations to meet. A large and successful horror convention had been held in Indianapolis in March, and they will be compared to a wide variety of horror-related conventions held around the country, as well as being judged against memories of previous Famous Monsters conventions in past decades by earlier owners of the famous name. At the same time as the FM con,...
Friday July 9
Publisher Phil Kim, FM magazine editor Jessie Lilley, editor-in-chief Michael Heisler, and a host of staff members begin their day before 7:00 a.m. to make the final preparations for the first time convention of the new FM. They are all aware that they have high expectations to meet. A large and successful horror convention had been held in Indianapolis in March, and they will be compared to a wide variety of horror-related conventions held around the country, as well as being judged against memories of previous Famous Monsters conventions in past decades by earlier owners of the famous name. At the same time as the FM con,...
- 8/10/2010
- by Max
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
I finally got to attend a Famous Monsters Convention! I.ve been a huge fan of the magazine since I bought my first issue when I was 8 years old in 1969 at Wood Drug Store at the corner of Taylor and Manchester in Kirkwood. It was issue #64 with Basil Gogo.s painting of Vincent Price from House Of Wax on the cover and from then on, I lived for the magazine, buying all subsequent issues and eventually tracking the earlier ones until I acquired a complete run. In 1973 the first Famous Monsters Convention was held but I was too young to attend. The magazine, run by legendary editor Forry Ackerman, ended its original run in 1983 after 191 issues. Famous Monsters returned to newsstands (sans Forry) in a couple of brief incarnations (including an on-line form) over the next couple of decades and another Famous Monsters Convention was held in 1993 (I wish I...
- 7/22/2010
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
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