​A group of medical students are getting away on a trip up to the mountains to get away from their school work. Even though they all have their specific areas of study, they have been able to maintain their relationship outside of school. Joking about what terrors a trip to the mountains could bring, they get their directions up to a friend’s cabin that will be just the place to blow off steam.

As the first night draws near, an unexpected visitor arrives at the door. Coming in for a cup of coffee, he inspects the group and does not like what he sees. Telling the smart kids about what happened in the area at the end of WWII, he tries to make sure that they all understand the dangers that the mountain holds in its frozen depths. The college kids give the old man’s claims little thought as he seems to be out of his mind and go about their business. But finding a box full of gold in the cabin's cooler, they start to have second thoughts.

As they realize that one member of the group still has not arrived at the cabin, since she was going to arrive via cross country, her boyfriend gets worried and goes out to search for her. Finding the old man from the previous night dead alongside his tent, he starts to fear that the stories might be true. As an undead Nazi comes out of the frozen tundra and chases him, he now knows that there is something much more sinister on the mountain than he previously believed. As the rest of the group is still held up in the cabin, they start to hear strange sounds outside, along with seeing strangely clothed figures surrounding them. Not knowing how to get the old troopers to go away, they have to find a way to get back to the car before they become just another statistic.  

This was admittedly my first exposure to Nazi Zombie genre movies, and I am extremely happy for it, since it did not disappoint. Even though it varies from the Romero genre which features zombies that are just looking to bite you, this has something so much more to offer, Nazis. A zombie that does not care about biting you but wants to take over the world just adds that much more fear into the hearts of fans, as well it should. Being able to operate everything they took with them to the grave, it is just great how they will stop at nothing to achieve their goal, whether it be killing intruders, stealing valuables or trying to take over the world, one hill at a time. Stay Scared.

If someone would have told me ten years ago, that someday soon, horror would be one of the most popular genres on television, I would have laughed that right off. Because a decade ago, the idea of horror shows populating the landscape and hanging with the big sitcoms just seemed silly. For at that time, the mantra was that horror was only enjoyed by a niche audience that watched these movies on VHS or DVD with like-minded friends on the weekends, and there was simply no way it could ever be mainstream and appeal to the masses. Yet, here we are, and horror is king when it comes to the small screen and as someone who watched his favorite scary movies on VHS and DVD on the weekends, I couldn’t be happier with this end result.
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But while it’s been quite an incredible experience to see people accept shows like The Walking Dead into the overall pop culture environment, and get into discussions with a more diverse fan base about the wonder of Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees, there is one inherent downside to having the genre go mainstream in that, mediocrity can settle in. Because studios and networks love formulas and status quo and that means sometimes we are treated to horror stories that lack depth and punch and that’s unfortunate since the genre has the ability to tell incredible stories about everyday people that find themselves plunged into a world of terror. But, thankfully, there are still networks and storytellers out there looking to keep the genre fresh and filled with fascinating stories and last night saw the premiere of a tale that meets that all-important criteria in, NOS4A2.

Now, this story, adapted from Joe Hill’s novel of the same name, introduces us to a character named Vicki ‘Vic’ McQueen, a teenager who is about to graduate from high school and she is at quite the crossroads in her life. For she wants nothing more than to go to art school and see her talent blossom there, but a busted family life and her social standing in Haverfield, Massachusetts seem to be stacking the odds against her and well, while all of this sounds like the setup for a drama instead of a horror story, there’s a lot to like about the fact that the series premiere of this show, ‘The Shorter Way’, works hard to establish the characters of this universe and what they stand for, and that matters greatly since so many horror stories work to get right to the gore and the monsters, rather than create an immersive environment filled to the brim with characters we can genuinely care about.

If anything, the slow burn approach that went into this particular tale and the vast amounts of time we spend with well, everyone, made this a refreshing premiere to say the least. Because we truly learn everything there is to know about the characters here and their struggles in life and that allowed for a supremely different horror story to be told in this tale. For our fear of failure, of being alone and of going nowhere in life were on display here, and sometimes the horrors of the world and the evil we do to one another make for more chilling moments than an evil clown can supply and taking the time to establish this world did wonders for the story because we genuinely care about Vic, since we are now fully aware of the good that resides in her soul, and how she tries to engender that in others by making people feel as though they matter.
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However, at this point, we’ve talked little about the scares in this story, or why Vic’s good nature matters and now is the perfect time to discuss that. Because in Vic’s world, there is a great evil, a monster named Charlie Marx, and Mister Marx, is constantly on the hunt for the one thing that can sustain him; the souls of young children. But how he gets them is what truly disturbs one in this tale since he seeks out children from broken homes who are vulnerable and lonely, and he makes sure there is nothing for them to return to before he drags them to a place called Christmasland, all the while sapping their spirit and transforming these kids into something twisted and that’s important, because only a pure evil can perform an act as atrocious as that, and only a force of true good can put that kind of evil down and now that Vic has discovered a fascinating gateway in her home town, Charlie is on his way to learn of her and its power, putting good and evil on quite the collision course.

If anything, it’s best to just declare this series as brilliant right now. For it is the perfect mix of horror and drama since Vic’s story is powerful and at times supremely relatable, and the scares are simply top notch since some of what Charlie does preys upon our biggest fears and well, I am utterly in love with this series. For its ability to captivate me and unsettle all at the same time is special to say the least, as are the stunning performances from Zachary Quinto and Ashleigh Cummings as Charlie and Vic respectively and the intelligence present in the writing is equally as amazing since this show is able to tell its story without pandering or making use of excessive exposition and well, I need more, plain and simple and I cannot wait to see where this incredible adaptation of Joe’s novel is going to take us in the weeks to come. Until next time.  

When we settle in to watch a television show or a movie from the horror genre, there are some expectations already in place in our minds. We expect it to be scary. We expect it to have some quality gore that makes us cringe, and we expect a good story that draws us in and if it just so happens to have a little social commentary, well that’s a wonderful thing as well. But what we don’t expect, is to find anything positive in these stories, especially when it comes to tales involving the living dead. Because shows and movies involving walking corpses that eat people, are often bleak, since the dead returning to life signals the end of the world and a desolate journey through the land of the dead, gives us everything we desire from a horror story.
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Yet, while desolation has been the focal point of zombie themed stories for as long as I can remember, there seems to be a fascinating paradigm shift happening within the world the of the living dead. For some stories are starting to explore whether or not hope can be found in a world where the dead walk and much of this exploration has been coming about via AMC’s family of zombie stories since The Walking Dead has toyed with the notion of hope on several occasions over the past couple of years before diving back into some terrifying plot lines pulled right from the comics, allowing for its sister series, Fear the Walking Dead to dive further into these concepts instead. Since season four of the series truly tried to examine as to whether or not hope can be found with the weight of the apocalypse bearing down upon one’s shoulders and even then, this is such a powerful idea that the show couldn’t quite finish that particular exploration since it became clear that some of the characters had to heal from their own trauma before moving forward in this chilling new world.

Which brings us to last night’s season five premiere of the show, since ‘Here to Help’, finally took the time to address directly, as to whether or not hope can be instilled in people when the world is mired in death and well, it turns out that such an undertaking, is no easy task. Because Morgan’s beautiful idea to use Clayton’s former base of operations to bring supplies and help and shelter to those in need, was not going as planned in the slightest. For the crew came to learn over the course of a few months that some of the people who were trying desperately to hold out, succumbed to the death that permeates the land, and others who were asking for aid, turned out to be so badly damaged psychologically by what they’ve seen, that the idea of receiving aid from anyone, was not worth their time, and the team also learned the hard way, that there are some people out there who are utterly good with taking full advantage of the kind heartedness of others, in order to enjoy a little personal gain.

Enter a man named Logan, who basically baited Morgan and his crew to do everything and anything to save him, in order to get them away from their home base. Because Logan was once Clayton’s business partner, and he even signed the lease on the riverside facility back when the world was still functional and well, he simply wasn’t good with Morgan using the building to keep a ‘silly’ ideology alive, so his little ruse helped him to reclaim his ‘home’ and allow for him to have a sense of normalcy once again and well, this was devastating to say the least. Because it once again speaks to how humanity is sometimes incapable of letting go of the past, and how places and things give us a sense of safety and really, Logan’s power play, while cowardly in nature, also reinforces just how difficult Morgan’s quest is going to be, since so much of humanity is still listless and fearful of well, anything and everything at this point in time.

Yet, while that kind of failure, would break any other man, everything that happened here only seemed to embolden Morgan, and his dedication to this mission, and the energy and drive he engenders in others was just fascinating to watch in this tale. Because everyone has grown, in a good way, since they’ve met Morgan and seeing June rush toward danger, rather than run from it, and see Al desperate to contribute to the cause and watch Alicia use her anger and pain for something productive, was beautiful in its own right, and I was equally as fascinated by the fact that they have in essence become heroes, despite the danger and for proof, look no further than the opening moments of this episode. For seeing Alicia emerge from the smoke of the plane crash and tell those kids to step aside while she handled business, or see Strand rushing toward his buddies was incredible to say the least, and seeing this serves as a wonderful bookend to what this series is trying to explore, because this group is living proof that hope can indeed be instilled in people in their darkest hour.
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However, while the duality of man was a fascinating place for this episode to go, this is a story still set in the zombiepocalypse, and we need something juicy to look forward to over the course of the season and this premiere teased plenty of tidbits for the audience. After all, this story did reveal that Daniel Salazar is alive and well and that’s quite a big deal when all is said and done. Because that means that Victor Strand is likely going to be the one to reunite with Daniel first, and that is going to be ugly to say the least. For the last time he and Daniel interacted in season three, Strand was in essence Daniel’s enemy and I’m already desperate to see that reunion come to fruition for several reasons. Because it would be wonderful to see Strand atone for his sins with a man that he once called a brother and also because, Mister Salazar was one of the toughest and coolest characters from the old guard of the show and seeing him return to the fold will be an utter delight, especially if Strand and Morgan can convince him to join the cause.

Plus, we absolutely have to discuss the two grand mysteries that this story took the time to introduce. Because clearly someone out there wants people to steer clear of their respective territory for whatever reason since they took the time and effort to create roadblocks made out of the living dead and well, the why behind that, is what has piqued my curiosity. Because the person or persons who took the time to do that, are either hiding something supremely fascinating, or they’re straight up dangerous and are about to bring quite the fight to Morgan and his friends for violating their territory. But while that was interesting, let’s be honest, the bigger mystery involving the armored zombie is what has all of our attention. For not only was this walker a fresh one and sporting some seriously advanced gear, those maps on his person bore the same logo that was on the side of the helicopter that picked up Rick Grimes in his final appearance on The Walking Dead, meaning that Al is now in the hands of the same group and well, this plot thread could lead us to some incredible places, storytelling wise.

Which means, this was quite the epic season premiere when all is said and done, since it featured everything we love about this series. For there were plenty of zombies around to help create a sense of danger in the story, the human condition was once again on display as we explored the notion of hope, and the forthcoming story involving this mystery organization and the disturbed individuals obsessed with radiation signage and zombie art has me intrigued and well, you really cannot ask for much more from the opening episode of a brand-new season. If anything, I’m quite impressed with just how much they packed into this one since it seems our heroes will be fighting battles on multiple fronts, which will test them in ways we’ve never seen before and really, it’s just great to have Fear the Walking Dead back on the air again. Because it really is a breath of fresh air, since it’s trying to do bold new things and having it explore an important plot element from its sister series, makes the experience all that much sweeter and I cannot wait to see where this fascinating story takes us in the weeks to come. Until next time.