As the nights in New York City are no longer safe, the daytime is not getting much better.  Looting has taken over in the streets as nobody knows what is happening and thinking about their number one priorities, themselves.  It is getting harder to know what to expect as there are many infected that have vanished from their homes and businesses, but while they are all hidden somewhere, their possessions are up for grabs.

Eph, Abraham, Fet and Nora are preparing to head out and find the Master’s lair.  Knowing that it has to be underground, they are equipping themselves with all of the UV protection that they have available, along with a bomb of sorts.  Knowing that this entire event started with one vampire, Abraham wants to end it by cutting off the head of the first and most powerful.  Heading into the bowels of the city, the group is led by Fet who has been catching and killing rats in the area for years and knows more about the secrets that the area holds than anyone else.

With their search area being around Ground Zero, the group enters more tunnels that have not been used by the city since the incident. With all of the ammonia over the walls and rails, they find that they are on the right way to where the Master should be hiding. Keeping quiet and not disturbing the newly infected, everyone is starting to get fed up with their current situation and taking it out on each other.  With their trust diminishing, they find a rat hole that could lead them to their goal.  Going first, Eph starts to hear cries for help from his ex-wife Kelly and will not stop and listen to reason from anyone until he finds her.  Meeting the Master for the first time, Eph is amazed with the power the creature possesses, but is not able to protect himself and needs to depend on his friends to get him out of his current predicament.  

On babysitting duty back at the pawn shop, Zach has been put in charge by his father while the group is out hunting.  Taking care of Nora’s mother, Mariela, Zach finds that he is going to have his hands full with the old woman who is not entirely there.  After throwing her final fit, Zach decides to take matters into his own hands and leaves the shop to find the old woman some cigarettes so she will calm down and stay in the safety of the basement.  Leaving the shop, Zach is able to see how bad the city has gotten and has to keep his eyes open as the vampire threat is not only active in the day, but still very dangerous.

After escaping from his prisoner transport, Gus has been able to find his way home and needs to make sure that his mother is ok.  After banging on the door for several minutes, he finds that it was left open and enters to find his brother has been changed into the same type of creature as his best friend was just a few hours ago.  Having to defend himself, Gus has to kill his own flesh and blood and find his mother.  Trying to call everywhere where she could be, he hears a little knock in the closet and when he opens it to the light, he finds his mother is one of the infected as well.  Apologizing to her and leaving the apartment, Gus makes his way through the city to find whatever he can that will help him survive the outbreak.

It was a little bit of a more condensed episode as almost all of the characters were highlighted, but done well.  Watching as the large group is only trusting each other a little bit, they seem to be taking one step forward and three steps back in their relationships.  But finding the Master’s lair was the highlight of the episode and watching Abraham destroy his master work from so many years ago.  Knowing where they have to go to find the one that started it all is a large step for the group, but when they saw what the next tunnel has in store for them, it may be more difficult than they expected to get close to the Master once again.  Stay Scared!

With all that is happening in New York City, everyone is praying for daylight as it is the only thing that can keep the outbreak at bay.  Wanting to find all of their loved ones after finding out what is really happening in the streets at night is everyone’s priority and that does not only stop with the non-infected.  With the internet being brought down to a crawl, there seems to be no way to find anything that you are looking for, but there is still a signal and that might be enough to give you an idea of where to go.

Young Zach Goodweather is worried about the whereabouts of his mother.  Since his father was able to dispose of the infected inside of their old home, Zach has not seen or heard from his mother for over a day.  Being able to connect to the internet, no matter how briefly, he is able to track down her cell phone and give his father a place to go looking.  Although Zach wants to be involved in the hunt as well, Eph will not allow his son to be put in harm's way and urges his son to stay in the pawn shop.  Zach loves both of his parents, but when his father will not allow him to do his duty, Zach turns a cold shoulder to his father and will find another way to help his lost mother.

While on the hunt for his ex-wife, Eph searches the area pinpointed by his son and finds a homeless woman with her phone.  Being able to find out where the old woman found it, Eph discovers her car and narrows his search radius down once again.  Going back to his old home, Eph comes up empty handed, but when moving on to her best friend’s house, Eph finds more than he bargained for.  With Kelly’s best friend, along with her son being infected, Eph has to make sure that they will not be a threat to anyone else and puts them down.  Returning to the pawnshop empty handed, Eph has come to terms that Kelly is gone and has to find a way to pass this information on to his son.

Vasiliy Fet and Dutch Velders have come with their own plan of attack to head off the infection and want to get to the source.  Although Dutch does not believe there is a way to bring back the internet and cell phone service that she has brought down, there is a chance if she can get her hands on her employer’s hardware.  Fet agrees and using his credentials, he may be able to gain access for them both into one of the most secure buildings in the city.  Upon arrival, Fet is able to use his rugged charm to gain access, but the two are met with a surprise when they arrive at their destination.  Dutch is granted an audience with the dying Eldritch Palmer who is not willing to let all of his hard work go to waste and orders his bodyguard to have the two intruders to be disposed of.

This was a heavy Kelly Goodweather episode as you have been brought into the last thirty six hours of her life.  When Matt arrived home after the two had a fight, he was not willing to say one word to his girlfriend, as he was battling off a sickness of his own.  Although nothing happened the first night, Matt was changing and Kelly was not willing to accept it.  Being sent home early from her school, Kelly knows that Eph was right about the sickness and wanted to pass the information onto Matt, but when he made it out to see her, she sees that there is nothing of him left.  Being able to battle off her current lover, Kelly is not immune to the virus as she gets infected and not through a bite.  Passing out shortly after the altercation, she awakens very sick and starts to search for her son.  With that being her only driving force, Kelly goes to the school, then visits her friends Diane’s house and unleashes her new ability onto her and her young son.  Hearing voices and seeing the world differently, Kelly starts to roam the streets, looking for her son and there is nothing in the world that will stop her.

Is the show just getting better with every episode that is coming out, or is it just that the buildup for something that is going to be out of this world?  I do not know, but this episode showed what Abraham Setrakian has been saying from the very beginning, love drives these creatures.  Watching how Kelly has moved from place to place looking for her son was very sweet at first, but watching as she changed into one of these creatures of the night, it became very scary.  I cannot wait to see what happens next as the Master has not yet shown his full power over the city yet and it is obvious that Thomas Eichorst is waiting for round two against his old friend Abraham.  Stay Scared!

There have been a handful of movies that have extended their longevity by transferring to the small screen after their release, but none that have truly captured my horror loving heart has one just has.  From Dusk Till Dawn has made a successful jump between mediums and there is one reason behind it, the story did not change. 

Ok, to be honest, I loved the movie and there is little that could keep me from watching it come to life with an extended story.  With a couple more characters, along with a strong back story that answers your questions from the original movie, I absolutely loved what this brought to the small screen.  So, let’s jump into the guts of how this show has captured my heart.

First of all, it has to deal with vampires.  Done!  I have always been a fan of the genre, but it has been lost the past couple of years with love stories and such that leave me wanting to stab a stake though someone's heart.  These are the old school, eat your heart out vampires that I have come to love and want more of.  But it also changes the lore ever so slightly, making the vampires a serpent race instead of the normal children of the night.  Not a bad transition, since they both feed on the blood of the living and have fangs that will leave you cringing in your seat.

Second, The Gecko brothers are back and there is no way to stop them.  If you liked the interaction between the brothers in the movie, you will love it in the series as they continue to battle even more.  Richie becomes more of vocal point in this series than he was in the movie and you get an entire backstory to what is really going through his mind, rather than just thinking he is crazy from square one.  Although Seth is forced to trust his brother, he cannot and does not believe what is happening to him which leads to a more dynamic relationship between the two, but when they are called upon to perform, they pull it together as they always have before.

Third, the new characters that you never got to see in the movie.  Carlos is by far my favorite, the mastermind behind the Gecko’s latest heist that is just looking for his take.  But Carlos is a key player in all of the story since he has his fingers in everything.  To go along with Carlos, his five hundred year old love, Santanico is the one who is playing with Richie’s mind throughout the entire series.  Telling him to do things, along with bringing him to his fate, Santanico is not only beautiful, but extremely powerful and willing to do anything to get her way.  Ranger Freddie Gonzalez is the anchor of the new characters in the series with his unwillingness to give up on his hunt for the Gecko brothers.  Trying to avenge the loss of his mentor, Freddie will not allow even vampires to stop him from attaining his goal and with such devotion to his dearest friend, he finds out that he has more to offer than he could have expected.

Fourth, The Fuller Family.  Yes, they are all there with Father Jacob, Kate and Scott.  Like I said before, you get more of a character profile on everyone in the series and there is no exception with this family as you actually get to see what happens to their mother and why they are heading down to Mexico.  Even Scott gets a decent amount of story, even though he is picking on his sister most of the time, but it is not wasted.  They are a great group and even though there does not seem to be a strong family bond when the story starts, you see them come together to achieve the impossible, as only a family can do.

Fifth, Sex Machine.  There is no way that you cannot bring up one of the most loved characters from the movie and although I was a little bit worried about it to start, he grew on me.  With a full back story of him being a college professor, it really did not make a difference to me until he was unleashed on the vampire horde and was able to show what he was made of.  Now I understand the teaching background and his obsession with the occult for the series, but I would have never thought that after seeing him in the movie, not in a million years.

Well there is a breakdown of the characters, now I will take you through a quick recap of the performances. D. J. Cotrona who plays Seth Gecko is just phenomenal, he has unleashed his inner George Clooney in his role and has completely taken over the thief.  But Zane Holtz, as Richie Gecko is superb in the his role and not taking anything away from the movie, has a more difficult role to fill since you never get to see the full back story of the character.  Jessie Garcia as Freddie Gonzalez was probably the finest choice made when casting, you can see the emotion in his eyes for the hatred for the Gecko brothers and actually feel like he will never give up his hunt.  I was blown away by Wilmer Valderrama as Carlos, as I have never seen him playing the ultimate bad guy yet.  A special call out to Jake Busey who plays Professor Aiden Tanner, he always plays a person that is a little bit off of his rocker, but seems to really embrace it in this role.  Along with Madison Davenport who plays Kate, she adds so much to the role that you never got to see in the movie, battling with her own issues and now a treat that is taking out her family.

Well, that is it for the fine young series of From Dusk Till Dawn.  I hope everyone that loved the original movie will take a chance on the series.  A special thank you to Robert Rodriguez for helping to bring this to life on the small screen as there were some questions left unanswered from the movie.  I have seen that there is a second season coming out next year and cannot wait to see where they take the story.  Although the follow up movies lost something in translation, I can see the series taking a completely different turn and separating itself from the original.  Stay Scared!

As the night continues in New York, more and more fears are coming to life.  Not knowing what is really happening in the great city with the lack of the internet, along with limited phone service, nobody is safe. Needing to find their loved ones and making sure that they are all virus free, the group starts to work their way home and then to the safest spot they know, Abraham’s pawn shop.

Zach Goodweather arrives home to find it empty of his mother.  Looking around and seeing the mess that was left in the house, he is attacked by her boyfriend, Matt.  Becoming infected at his job, Matt has returned to the place and the people that he loves and has attempted to feed, but finds it is much harder to accomplish when Eph makes it home just in time to save his son.  Disposing of his family’s new threat, Eph implores that Abraham takes his son and keep him safe until his arrival to their safe house. Zach is worried about his mother since no one can seem to locate her and like his father, will do anything to help find her.

On the other side of town, Gus and Felix are still in lock up and Felix is not recovering at all form his sickness.  Without receiving any medical treatment in the jail cell, Gus is worried about his best friend’s well being and tries to convince the guards to get someone to look at him.  Being ignored and, all of the prisoners are loaded onto a transport and sent off to the prison before morning.  Felix’s health continues to fail on the bus, but when he seems to come gain some power back, he becomes the thing that nobody wants to see, a vampire.  With Felix distracted while feeding off of the driver, Gus is able to escape his small confines, but has a decision to make before making a run for his freedom.

Vasiliy Fet is leading the charge to help get the surviving group to safety and will double check all of their residences before allowing anyone to stay alone.  Walking Dutch back up to her apartment, Fet finds it empty of any living being, but Dutch finds out something much worse.  Her roommate has run off with all of Dutch’s most important belongings, the money from her latest job and her laptop.  Trying to get a grasp on what is really happening in the world, Fet and Dutch discuss what to do next when an uninvited guest comes in the front door and tries to feed on the master hacker.  Knowing that this place is no longer safe, Fet decides to bring the young woman to the safe house as well.

Eph and Nora are left alone in Eph’s former home to dispose of the body of his ex-wife’s boyfriend, but there is something more troubling on the couples mind, the loss of their friend Jim Kent.  The two start to kick themselves for not being able to help him with all of their training in the medical field, but are starting to come to terms that the old man might be right with needing to stop this virus at the source, rather than trying to save the infected.  In the heat of the moment, the two find a way to blow off steam, but end up getting caught by his wife’s friend.  Confessing his love for his wife, Eph unknowingly upsets Nora as she is trying her hardest to keep her wits about her in the situation, but is becoming lost very quickly.

Abraham Setrakian is keeping his mind busy working up battle plans when he meets the Master once again.  Trying to get everyone to understand what they are up against, he takes a moment with young Zach and introduces him to an old book on the vampire lore so he may become a little bit more acclimated to the situation just outside the door.  Also while making casual conversation with Dutch, he finds out who is the mastermind behind the outbreak, Eldritch Palmer.  Dutch also tells him of a German man that seems to be pulling the strings and never truly liked being around, Thomas Eichorst.  Abraham now has a target in mind and needs the help of Fet to make his way through the city and get to Palmer’s building and confront the master once and for all.

With another round of flashbacks to Abraham’s past, his hardships are really brought to life.  After completing the box for Eichorst, Abraham was treated as a normal prisoner again, but he knows more than the others. As the allied forces have been getting closer and closer to the camp, the Master has been feeding more heavily in Abraham’s bunks.  Although Abraham was able to procure a silver knife to keep the old being away, he is no match for the power that the Master brings to the table.  Breaking Abraham’s hands in the night, the Master has done his duty to make sure the carpenter cannot continue his trade as the camp is preparing to move and will only take the healthiest prisoners with them.  Abraham has been put on the firing line but is given a second chance at life as the allied forces pull up on the camps doorstep.

An emotional episode to say the least as you have seen the final days of Abraham in the concentration camp, a motherless child worried about her wellbeing, a woman trying to make since of a situation that she helped facilitate and a couple that does not know where they both stand in each other’s eyes.  Everyone just wants to go home, but as they are finding out, home is not safe, especially when someone that loves them has become infected.  Believing that the safest route is to stay under the watchful eye of Abraham Setrakian, since he was able to help get them all out the convenience store alive, it seems to be time for everyone to accept his explanations for what is really happening and more importantly, how to fight it.  Stay Scared!

As the sun has fallen in New York City, people are starting to see that there are things that go bump in the night.  People are going to have to start working together to survive this new outbreak that has taken to the streets.  There seems to be no way to stop these creatures, with the exception of beating them to death, but if The Master can be killed, everyone may stand a chance.

Eph, Nora, Jim and Abraham have successfully battled off the attack of Thomas Eichorst in the subway, but allowed him to get away.  Abraham knows that there is a larger fight coming with The Master’s right hand man, but has to formulate a new plan of attack for the upcoming night.  With the group starting to understand how vicious this virus makes its hosts, they need to find a way to keep it from spreading, especially to themselves.

Knowing that ultra violet radiation affects these creatures, the group loots one of the local medical shops to load up on supplies, but someone has beat them to it.  Vasiliy Fet has already gathered up everything he needs to survive and hunt the threat down and makes it known to the group that he has already taken care of a few of the infected himself.  Wanting to know more about the vampires that have taken over the sewers and now walking the streets at night, he asks Abraham about the rules.  Finding out that guns are useless against the threat, Fet is happy that he always carries a piece of rebar with him at all times.

Gun shots only hurt the infected if it hits the bone.  The spinal cord must be severed in order to put down one of the infected.  They are also extremely sensitive to silver and to sunlight so silver bullets along with UV lamps would be great items, especially at night.  After attaining this information from the old man, Fet seems very comfortable with the choices he has made in his defenses and is ready to move one.  But Abraham has a different plan in mind for the exterminator, he wants Fet to join the team since he has been able to dispose of a few of these creatures with his basic instinct.

Fet is not too keen on the idea as he has done just fine on his own and now knowing the rules he can dispose of the infected much more efficiently.   But Fet is not left with a choice as he and the group get trapped inside a convenience store while gathering supplies for the days ahead.  As the night walkers start to surround the store, the group tries to formulate a plan of escape and a few of the other customers in the store do not believe that they can wait it out.  The threat only seems to be directed towards the group themselves, not the others, so they all try to escape on their own and find out that the vampires don’t really care whom comes out of the store, they will feed on them regardless.

Running into Dutch Velders, the woman behind the internet blackout, Nora tries to keep herself composed when the young woman admits to being involved.  Not knowing what the overall plan was for the city, Dutch was just there to collect her check, but now is seeing that she has done something that is killing many innocent people.  Trying to keep a low profile while in the convenience store and waiting for the others to get an escape plan together, she offers her own suggestions and tries to help as best as she can.  But when the vampire numbers become too great outside of the store, even her ideas cannot help the group.

A struggle for power seems to be coming into the group as you have Eph and Abraham having to go head to head about everything that is going on with the infected.  Abraham is getting pushed to the brink since nobody seems to be listening to him and he has proved that he knows what the group is up against.  When Jim Kent gets scratched by one of the vampires stingers, Abraham begs and pleads that he be destroyed, but Eph is still stuck with his training and believes that science and medicine will prevail, but is proven wrong once again.  With little to no options left on the table, the group has to follow what Abraham has planned, or they will not live to fight another day.

A pretty easy episode to catch up on as the group has gotten trapped in a convenience store.  I am enjoying the struggles between the characters right now more than the actual vampires.  I am also happy that Jim Kent has been taken out of the picture.  I don’t know what it is, but he has not grown on me from the very start as he is a member of the CDC and seems to know nothing about diseases.  Whatever, that is a rant for another day.  The Master seems to be trying to home in on the group, especially Abraham and wants to take him out before he can do too much damage his cause.  I cannot wait until the next episode, they never seem to be long enough.  By the way, any creature lover fans out there, a fun cameo from the great Rick Baker in convenience store ends the only way it should end….Stay Scared!

Oh what an ugly season it was on The Walking Dead this past year.  We were witness to a horrific flu that ravaged the serenity of the prison. The Governor returned to exact his revenge, killing Hershel and ravaging the prison in the process.  The group was left scattered to the wind. We learned how terrifying looking at the flowers can be and those that arrive at Terminus, most likely will not survive.  

Yes, it was the show that kept on giving one twisted gift after another and for all of us fans out there, the fourth season of this incredible show has at last arrived on blu ray and man, it certainly does this already amazing show justice.  

First and foremost, you'll find stunning picture and rich sound in this collection. Every little detail, including how amazing Greg Nicotero's work is on the walkers on the show is revealed in this lovely high definition transfer.  In fact, the quality of the image is so good, I found myself wincing at the sheer gross out factor of some of the walkers.  

The sound is equally as crisp and cringe inducing when you hear the horrible noises of a walker going to town on its favorite food and there are even a few surprises sound wise that caught me off guard since I don't recall hearing them in the original broadcast.  A fine example and yes SPOILERS are coming up is in the episode "Too Far Gone" when the Governor goes in to finish off Hershel and well...you can hear poor Hershel cry out in his final moments.

But of course what would a collection like this be without extras galore. This set offers plenty of in depth featurettes on the making of the show, each one of which is fascinating to watch.  They also loaded it up with deleted scenes, extended episodes and some awesome commentaries on some of the episodes.  My personal favorite is the commentary on "The Grove" which features Andrew Lincoln and show runner Scott Gimple.

But there is one particular moment in this collection that will satisfy fans who love the comic through and through and well, fans of the show who had a hunch that Rick's final line in the season finale seemed like it should have been a little more intense in its language.  Well, the good news is "A" restores the line to what Rick said in the comics and yes, it's as awesome to see and hear on the screen as it was to read on the page.  That alone makes this disc set worth owning (yes, it's that epic) and if you're a huge fan of the show or just love zombies, you need to pick this one up.