Most sequels or continuations of a story work hard to embrace their roots, but not repeat them. After all, by treading through familiar ground a fan base will quickly express its disappointment on not giving us anything new or exciting in the story so we often get a nod or a wink to something in the franchise's past and move on...unless of course we're talking about the Evil Dead franchise and Ash vs. Evil Dead.

Because this is a series that embraces everything about its past, and sometimes revisits it in glorious fashion, which is exactly what happened in last night's episode, 'Confinement'. This is a tale that took us back to the beginning, specifically that claustrophobic feel that The Evil Dead set up so well which means that 'Confinement' accomplished quite a few things. It was a tense and scary episode filled with a brand new monster we've never seen in the ED-Universe before and we finally got to meet Baal in all of his glory and judging from what we learned about him last night, he is going to be the Jefe's greatest challenge yet. 

As it turns out, Baal is a demon with limitless power when it comes to influence. A mere whisper in someone's mind immediately compels them to do as Baal says and it seems that he has quite a power over women, able to seduce them with little effort. But alas, he's not in the this for the pleasure...he's in this to own a soul and a new skin because with a flick of his freaky fingernail, he'll remove the flesh clean from his victims and assume their identity. It's an ability that allows him to get Ash in trouble and arrested for the murder of Amber and his incarceration, made for one interesting evening. Because when the rest of the Ghostbeaters arrive to get him out of the tank, Baal makes his move, allowing for the paranoia to flow as Ruby explains that he is inside the Sheriff's Office with everyone...and he is likely hiding in someone's skin.

That's when the real fun started and this show transformed into a bit of a psychological thriller since the audience was clueless as to who Baal might be inhabiting and of course, this is when the throwback to the original film arrived. Because suddenly, once again we were trapped with Ash in a place where escape was impossible for the moment since everyone was focused on finding Baal and well...this was a stroke of genius. Much of this show has been about how Ash can never quite escape his past until he completely confronts it, something that he is doing in spades this season and here we are again, with El Jefe once more squaring off against the past except this time...there was a meat monster, a skinned human that loves to murder to deal with, and it was absolutely awesome to watch on screen since this is the brand new kind of Deadite I mentioned, and quite frankly, a practical special effects marvel. But that disgusting creature was a mere distraction as we learned that Baal walked them into a trap so he could get his hands on the one thing that could stop him...the Kandarian Dagger.  

But, while it seems as though all hope to stop Baal and his evil plans may be lost, there's apparently something special and gross happening with Pablo, since it would seem something is growing inside of him. What exactly...well we don't quite know just yet, but Ruby said he may be the key to saving the day after all, but clearly it won't be pretty. But when all is said and done, it was freaking cool to meet this powerful demon that's been hanging over the majority of season two and man...is he one scary dude. I'm not sure there is anything anyone can do against his influence and it should be interesting to see how the Jefe finds a way around his charm to once again save the day and hopefully...Pablo will be okay when all is said and done as well because whatever's going on under his skin...looks damn scary. Until next time.

When a show decides to go for broke and deliver its darkest episode to date, shattering the minds and hearts of its entire fanbase, where does it go from there? It's something that was on all of our minds after last week's devastating season seven premiere of The Walking Dead and thankfully the show decided to answer that question quickly, by giving us an episode that allowed for our tender hearts to heal. 

How it accomplished such a feat however, came about in the most unexpected ways possible, by allowing us to laugh again, by giving us a shred of hope when we thought there was none left and by introducing a few new colorful characters into the mix and all the while continuing in the tradition of giving us a smart story that analyzes how mankind would deal with the chaos of the end of the world and even providing us with answers as to why Carol snapped at the end of last season, making last night's episode, 'The Well' a brilliant hour of storytelling that managed to captivate its audience with a sense of wonder. 

All of that, was accomplished by giving us a new world to explore in this universe in The Kingdom. This tiny out of the way berg is another thriving community much like Alexandria, save for one caveat, they truly live in a fantasy world. They are ruled, yes ruled, by a man known as King Ezekiel, an eccentric and proper King who is quite frankly a sight to behold. It's safe to assume that everyone's jaw dropped with wonder, surprise and skepticism when we first laid eyes upon his majesty mainly because hey...it's 2016 and a dude has declared himself King and also...he has a freakin' tiger named Shiva at his side as well. The notion of Ezekiel is in fact such a wild venture that it almost seemed downright absurd in this show and perhaps Carol's reaction summed up so many of our own with her 'you've got to be kidding me' face.

But Ezekiel's outlandish behavior seemed to serve a purpose. For the people of The Kingdom followed him happily, each person doing their part to make sure that everyone is fed and has a purpose in life once again and well, this was the beginning of the show's analysis as to how people cope with disaster, because despite how silly this place might seem, filled with song and dance and odd customs, the people here are happy. Not once were there discussions of the nightmares that wait outside their walls, or how badly their world has become. They were just happy to be alive and happy to thank Ezekiel for allowing them to see another day, but we'll get back to how exactly Ezekiel gives them this joy in just a moment.

Because despite all the unexpected fluff and joy that the Kingdom has to offer, there are real threats still to be found in their lives, ones that King Ezekiel wants to keep quiet so as to not interrupt the harmony this wonderful place enjoys. Because as it turns out, Negan's reach is far and wide and once a week the King meets with the Saviors to hand over their respective half to keep the good citizens of his Kingdom, safe.

In a way, Ezekiel's deal with the Saviors indicated that nothing was quite what it seemed in The Kingdom and in many ways that would be correct, because Ezekiel harbored a secret, one that Carol discovered as she prepared to leave this quaint little town. Her need to flee came about from one thing, the fact that all of our suspected fears about Carol were one hundred percent correct. Years of making the tough choice and putting down both walker and human had shattered her spirit. She could no longer differentiate the living from the dead and still saw herself as a threat and that's when she inadvertently uncovered Ezekiel's biggest secret in the midst of his last ditch effort to reach her on a fundamental level and save her from making a big mistake by disappearing into the world on her own.

The secret in question, is that Ezekiel is no King, just a regular man who found himself in one strange position. This former zookeeper and part time actor saw that a different persona evoked something special in people. It gave them an opportunity to tell tall tales, ones that inspired hope within, ones that gave them an escape from the horror of the world and he was happy to indulge them in that if it made their lives better. His admission came without shame, because of all the good that it has done and continues to do for the people that serve him, but the truth also came out of his mouth as a way of teaching Carol that hope is still possible in this awful world and that...given the right circumstances, she can heal and have her life back once again.

It was, an absolutely beautiful message to see after last week, and an unexpected one at that considering that hope was virtually robbed from this world with the deaths of Abraham and Glenn and truthfully, while I think we've all enjoyed seeing Carol pull off the innocent act because it has paid off in spades, it was simply magical to see someone call her on it for a change and in the process, actually reach her. Either way, it's fascinating to see a contrast of two worlds now, one shadowed in darkness in Alexandria, and one that found a way to keep the light shining bright in The Kingdom and hopefully what Ezekiel has started in his little world will spread to Rick's, because right now they need it more than ever. Until next time.

It's always interesting to see how a television show evolves when it comes to how it tells a story and for proof of that, look no further than Ash vs. Evil Dead. After all, last year, the show was inclined to go with a slow burn for its story arc. Dropping only little nuggets of plot points our way week in and week out before finally revealing everything and anything over the course of an epic three part season finale. But this season...not only has the show decided to go for broke when it comes to gore and gags, they're more than happy to unveil exactly what they are up against and it made 'DUI' one of the most fascinating episodes of this season to date.

I say that because as it turns out ladies and gentlemen, this entire season, and all the events that have transpired so far, have all been part of one long con, perpetrated by the demon Baal, to return to our planet and do who knows what and well...that's an outright stroke of genius for the show. Because by doing this, the show has added another new wrinkle to the Evil Dead mythos, wherein it seems that the evil is finally finding ways to win and the characters we know and love are suddenly pawns and now their actions and their emotions will have to be overcome in order for them to rise to the occasion, especially considering the fact that last night...they were at their lowest point.

But how does one come to such a conclusion, since there is a touch of conjecture there. Well the answer lies in what Ruby had to say about Baal in what seemed like an off the cuff comment, and through the actions of the final few minutes of the episode; since Ruby pointed out to Kelly that this ancient monster knows how to get inside her head and fill her with doubt and insecurity, and well...that's what's been happening to the Ghostbeaters all along. Pablo's visions have rocked him to his core. Kelly no longer believes she has much to offer in this life and Ash...well poor Ash has had to face every personal demon imaginable and suffer incredible losses once again, and to top if off the last real joy in his life, the baby Delta, is filled to the brim with evil now. 

As everything unfolded it became clear that Baal has been watching events unfold from the shadows all along, and with Ruby's children too weak to accomplish the task of bringing him to earth, he preyed upon those who made life difficult for the demon kids and made Ash and his pals do his bidding instead and by splitting them up, two things were accomplished. Ruby and Kelly punished the incompetent demon children for their failure and Pablo and Ash...were able to help bring Baal into our world. With Ash looking to salvage the last thing he can associate with any kind of good memories by way of the Delta, his attention was locked solely on freeing that car from evil without destroying it while poor Pablo, terrified of the book and his connection to it, followed its every instruction...speaking the words it asked him to, thus opening a portal to 'banish' the book into, giving Baal his window to earth.  

It's quite frankly, a bold move for the show to put all of their cards on the table this early in the season when it comes to Baal being the big bad for this year, but it's also some fine storytelling as well. Because now our characters will be faced with quite the internal conundrum over their mistakes and they will be forced to dig deep to find a way to combat Baal's power so that they can save the world from evil once again. It means we are about to be in for some pretty dynamic character growth and when you combine that, with the already top notch writing the show has been exhibiting this season, these next six episodes are going to be an outright incredible ride and I can't wait to see what comes next as the Ghostbeaters take on their biggest challenge to date. Until next time.

Those words in the quote above, spoken between Rick Grimes and Doctor Edwin Jenner in a panicked moment at the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta as Rick tried desperately to save his family and his friends from a fiery end to their lives...seemed like desperate and pathetic words from a man who had given up on life and resolved himself to the darkness of death and whatever lie beyond. We all raised an eyebrow at Jenner's words all those years ago, because we knew Rick and company would be facing insurmountable odds surviving in the world of the living dead, but they would live, they would always have a fighting chance and come out on top.

The notion that any of them would ever regret surviving to see tomorrow, no matter how great the loss or how great the challenge seemed silly at the time...but then last night happened. Because after six years of defying the odds, hurting and finding ways to heal but surviving and finding a life to call their own in Alexandria...Rick Grimes finally met his match...and the Doctor's chilling words finally rang true...in what can easily be called the most absolutely devastating episode of The Walking Dead to date. We know death is part of this universe, it might come from a zombie bite here, an accident there or perhaps from a crazed group that makes life hell for our band of intrepid survivors, but one way or another, we've come to expect (and begrudgingly accept) death to come knocking and take a character from us here or there. 

But last night, the show defied its own expectations, taking us to some incredibly dark places...in sadistic fashion quite frankly in a story that was designed to break Rick Grimes as a character as much as it was designed to break all of our spirits in the process. This episode left us nauseous, angry, and outright in tears as we said goodbye to not one but two characters and well...the morning after watching this horrific episode I'm left with only a couple of key thoughts about this episode. First and foremost, we were wrong to judge the show or fire anger toward it for leaving us with a cliffhanger. Because had the show revealed its kills in quick fashion in the spring, there would have been zero emotional weight for the audience, where as this episode paid proper respect to those we lost while taking us on one terrifying journey.

After all we were forced to watch every single moment of this waking nightmare as Negan unleashed his fury on Abraham and Glenn and the fact that the show held nothing back showing us every gory detail not only established Negan as the nastiest villain to ever appear on this series to date, but also that the safety net that the show was beginning to build over the past couple of years when it comes to characters dying is completely gone now. If a fan favorite such as Abraham can die, and a long time beloved character, (that by the way has managed to cheat death) like Glenn can join him in the great beyond...all on the whim of a madman, then no one is safe and we may lose others along the way if they get out of line with Negan and the Saviors in even the slightest fashion and now that the dust has settled when it comes to this episode, I think it is safe to say that the other thought on my mind about last night...is that this episode was outright brilliant. 

After all, I cannot remember the last time I truly felt afraid watching this show. Sure the zombies are always a threat, and they've met some horrible human beings, but Rick and the gang just kept on putting down the dead, and finding ways to survive. But last night the fear was back, every horrible possibility was running through my mind. As Negan cleaned the axe in the RV with Rick, part of me truly thought this was the moment that Mister Grimes was going to lose his right hand, and the show did such a fine job of pushing the envelope gore wise that for a moment there, I absolutely believed Rick was going to have to slice off his son's arm in order to save more lives. This story was truly a visceral experience and more importantly, it has shifted the tone of the story as well.

Since for the most part, the show has been building up a sense of hope since the back half of season five. Alexandria was a beacon of hope, the chance to begin again and start life over in proper fashion. Where people worked together, put aside their differences and carved out the peaceful world that all of us have dreamt of. But, despite the fact that the world as it once was is gone forever when it comes to this show, some things never change. There can be no good without evil and the series now has its devil in Negan, and over the course of the hour last night, we know that he is not a man to be trifled with. He will go to whatever lengths he must to get his way and that's downright terrifying. He's a psychopath through and through and truly a force to be reckoned with. 

Yet, despite the impact Negan is beginning to have upon the story, let's be honest...this episode changed the landscape of the show for fans as well. I can't remember the last time I saw a show evoke such an emotional response such as this. The viewing party that I attended last night cried out in shock when Lucille came down upon Abraham's head and for one viewer in attendance, that quickly turned to tears and then outright silence as Negan continue to wail on Abraham's remains before we all cried out again when Negan turned Lucille's attention to Glenn. It was such a jarring moment that a fellow writer for this site, Shae, stormed outside for a moment. She's a huge fan of Glenn and has outright stated that she's likely never watching the show again for killing him off. 

While I'm sure she's not alone, therein lies the brilliance my friends. We were taken on a terrifying ride last night, one that allowed us to experience a bevy of emotions and well...that's what a great story does to say the least. Either way, Abraham and his incredible one liners will be missed on the show, as will the sheer good that Glenn represents and the show truly does deserve credit for throwing caution to the wind and giving us something this dark and this visceral and quite frankly, for even giving us a moment of pause from the terror at the end of the episode to let us grieve in our own special way, and well...when all is said and done, I'm with Maggie...Negan needs to pay for this and it's just a matter of time before Rick snaps out of his funk...and does his best to make good on his promise to deal with Negan...maybe not today...maybe not tomorrow, but someday it will be Negan's turn to swallow a bitter pill, and swallow it...he most certainly will. Until next time.

​As October is the greatest month of the year, I usually like to get in the swing of things and provide all of you with a list of horror movies that will get you in the mood. But this year I am a little worried as our favorite horror movie directors are starting to get long in the tooth and passing on to the next life. So instead of giving you some of the best movies to watch, it might be time to find out who will be carrying the torch forward for our most beloved genre. So without further ado, here are the directors, in no particular order, who should keep the screams coming for us horror fans.

Adam Wingard – Never heard of him? Neither did I until I saw the movie You’re Next and was blown away by what was brought to the screen.  I never expected a story about money and revenge to keep me glued to my seat, but it did and even gave me a reason to hide my blender. Doing segments for V/H/S and The ABC’s of Death as well, he has dabbled in a couple different horror sub-genres and was also the mind behind the latest version of the Blair Witch, which I still need to see. 

​Adam Robitel – (There is not an alphabetic order to these, it just happened, I promise.) The Taking of Deborah Logan was a movie that blew me away and it put him on my watch list for years to come. I did not know that grandmothers could be so scary, but when they play with snakes in the garden and are able to eat children's heads in one bite, well, it will be a while until I visit my grandparents again. He also did the screenplay for Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, which is my favorite of the series since you can actually see a ghost and he is currently working on the next installment of the great Insidious story that has captured our hearts.

Anthony DiBlasi – This is the man behind one of my favorite movies (one that I stumbled upon on Netflix), Last Shift, which sent chills down my spine. I know that some of it had to be because of the casting, but I am sure that the direction had a big part in it as well and I am still not sure if the main character has special powers or not. Then last year, DiBlasi put out another movie, Most Likely to Die which was for lack of a better term, bloody evil. It revolves around a group of old classmates who come together and find out that they are being killed by someone that has a beef with them from high school and nobody is able to fight off the killer. This is a special kind of film, one made in the modern age that employs a classic feel when you watch it.

​James Cullen Bressack – I was just browsing Netflix one night and 13/13/13 showed up on my recommended list. I flipped on the movie and was shocked by what was happened on the screen before my very eyes. I still cannot get the sight of a young woman pulling the skin off of her arm out of my mind. Then James also had a movie called Pernicious where three girls are terrorized by a ghost child which actually turned out to be pretty fun for the setting. And just an honorable mention for Blood Lake: Attack of the Killer Lampreys which was just fun all around with lampreys executing incredibly creative kills in every possible way.

​Rob Zombie – He might be one of the oldest people to be on this list, but he just started making movies a little over ten years ago, so we can still consider him a young director. Everyone says that his best movie was The Devil’s Rejects, but I am a huge fan of The Lords of Salem. I don’t know if House of 1000 Corpses was really ground breaking, but it was a fun movie, and while the ending took a turn for the strange, it did not take away from the story and our favorite characters returned in the sequel to show how crazy the family really was. He also has a new movie that is just hitting the big screen in 31 that looks freaky as hell, and yes, it has clowns terrorizing people.

Ivan Zuccon – I do have a guilty pleasure movie here in Wrath of the Crows and while other people may not have liked it as much as I did, it tells you one truth, that everybody is guilty in one way or another. One of the things that I liked most about this movie was that it made sure that you understood that there was no escape, no matter how innocent you might try to be, that and Tiffany Shepis told me to watch it. I also enjoyed Colour from the Dark which had a different spin on the H.P. Lovecraft story and there really was no light at the end of the tunnel in that film. I also see that he will be directing a remake of Re-Animator, so I cannot wait to see what he brings to a classic story.
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There are the horror directors that I am going to keep an eye on for the future and hopefully they will continue to bring the screams that we love to hide from for many years to come. I only picked directors that have made a living off of making horror movies and left off the folks that only dabble in the genre, since these are the folks that are really doing the heavy lifting right now. There are also some good honorary mentions with Ted Geoghegan, the man behind We Are Still Here, Fede Alvarez, the man who delivered us the blood soaked version of Evil Dead and Debbie Rochon, the woman behind the scenes of the tasty Model Hunger. I know that there are plenty more great horror movie directors out there, I just picked movies that I enjoyed watching and went from there.
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So there you have it, a roundabout way to give you a Halloween movie watch list if you would like to call it that. I hope it helps if you are looking for a new scary movie to watch and that this gives you an idea of where I would like to see the horror industry kind of take us as time moves on. With the horror genre starting to get another kick start with some recent box office successes, I hope that more of these movies at least get a chance to make it to more screens around the nation, it is apparent that people want to see them in a dark room, surrounded by strangers, who will be screaming along with them for the scary parts. My only advice to this list of up and comers...keep the stories original, if you do a remake, make it your own story, keep the blood flowing and heads exploding. Until next time, Stay Scared.

When it comes to finding new television shows to watch, I either have to go by word of mouth or just trust that the commercials for it are legit for the story that is going to be told. I loved watching the trailers for Channel Zero, it looked like something fresh and new, so what the heck, I figured I might as well give another Syfy Original a shot and this time I was far from disappointed. When you get to refer to a creepy television show from the eighties (when I grew up), with creepy puppets as well (I hate puppets for this reason), you get to see what is actually happening inside of someone’s head and the mind games that are about to start in this series look like they are going to be downright terrifying.

Child psychologist Michael Painter is shaken up after receiving a call on a talk show asking why he has not returned home years after his brother disappeared. Wanting to find answers for himself and his missing twin Eddie, Michael surprises his mother with a visit and he is welcomed home with open arms. Heading down to the police station, Mike sees that his old friend Gary has become the sheriff of Iron Hills and would like to get some information about the child disappearances that happened during their childhood. Thinking that this is strange, Gary will agree to the request, but he will need something from his friend as well and invites Mike over for dinner with the family and friends.

Even though Mike feels out of place, being in a room full of childhood friends is good for him and the stories bring a smile to his face once again. Heading down to the bathroom, Mike runs into Gary’s daughter who is glued to the television set and sees a blast from the past. Asking the young girl what she is watching, she has found Candle Cove, the show that scarred Mike as a child. Returning to his friends, Mike asks if they remember the show and they all have fond memories of it with the exception of Jessica who had nightmares of all of the puppets screaming for no reason. Mike also knows that there is something different about the show, since its air dates corresponded with the disappearances of five children along with his brother back in 1988. Needing to excuse himself for the night, Mike is awakened by something and sees Captain Jawbone in the same vision he saw as a child the night his brother went missing.

As his sleepwalking has never gone away, Mike finds himself roaming the town and when he returns home he talks to his mother about his troubles. Having nightmares once again, which he had not had since he was a child, Mike wants to get his mind right before heading back out into the world. But before that can happen, Mike hears that young Katie has gone missing and he knows that it has something to do with the show. Searching the part of the woods where the children were found before, Gary and his force come up with nothing, but Mike might have a better idea where she is. Talking to her little brother, Mike finds out that Katie wanted to find the crow’s nest and he knows exactly where the little girl is hiding. Running into Jawbone in the woods, Mike gives chase but is unable to capture the perp that has taken the child. Finding Katie right where she should be, Mike is able to return her to her family, but being the hero doesn't seem to matter since the entire town knows about his troubles and that he has been roaming the streets at night.

A very interesting opening to a series that I know very little about. I guess it was a web series before it was picked up by Syfy and I might need to give that a shot to see what else I could have been missing out on all this time. Mike is on the road to discovery by returning home and trying to find out what happened to the five missing kids back in 1988.  With clues scattered all over the place, he just needs to put them together, but his mind may not be right as we find out at some point he was in a psych ward for a few weeks after a breakdown. Getting to know Mike seemed to be the basis of this episode since you got to see a ton of his childhood and how the relationship with him and Eddie evolved, especially after seeing the show Candle Cove. The changes in attitudes towards friends and family seem to already be happening and when Mike finds out the biggest bombshell of all, he may have to start to question his own sanity. Well, this is a weekly show, so I will have to find a time to pull it up every week and let it take me on a ride into the darkness of Iron Hills and a tooth monster that seems to like children. Stay Scared.

Perhaps the true magic of Ash vs. Evil Dead, is the fact that this is a show that could easily fall into quite a trap storytelling wise. It could follow a pretty standard formula, one that becomes outright predictable, making it easy to know exactly what is going to happen next. But thankfully this is a series that always manages to reinvent itself, and finds new ways to bring us some quality scares and splattery moments and that was never more evident than it was last week when the gross stuff came by way of the biggest ass joke ever seen on cable television and this week, that tradition of reinvention continued since quite a few stunning moments came by way of the Delta '88.

Because last night, we were treated to an outright homage to Stephen King and John Carpenter's iterations of Christine, with a surprise possession that no one saw coming, but in addition to the awesomeness that came with mixing evil and metal, this particular episode; 'Last Call', also decided to delve into some pretty intelligent storytelling as well. It seemed in many ways as though this story was the first time that any of our characters took inventory on what their lives had become since the Necronomicon started making their days difficult and to top it all off, Ash and his father Brock finally had the showdown that we had all been waiting for and well...it was simply magnificent. 

But before we delve too deeply into the more touching moments of this week's episode, let's take a moment and discuss what happened with the Delta, because man...that was just plain cool. As it turns out, the teens that stole the car had machinations to just abandon it after a short joy ride, but a curious teen named Amber reads from the book and boom...manages to get herself, and the Delta possessed and well...Ash's beloved car becomes quite the evil little murdering machine and kudos to the special effects team for making this more than a mere car out of control, this thing truly came to life. From the way the headlights gleamed red, to the fact that it spit fire and had complete control of its exterior, the Evil Dead Delta was simply a sight to behold and one of the coolest things to ever come out of this storied franchise. 

Yet, while one could watch the Delta's rampage scenes over and over and over, and heavens knows I did, as I mentioned earlier there was quite an intelligent storyline to be uncovered as well since it's clear now our intrepid Ghostbeaters are starting to experience a little wear and tear on their souls courtesy of the wild events that have occurred in their lives over the past year. Oddly enough, this epiphany came at the strangest of times, during a grand party that Ash decided to throw in order to draw out the kids that stole the Delta, and as the night wore on, Pablo was more vocal about his deep rooted fear of his visions and poor Kelly came to realize inadvertently, she has nothing in life but her quest for revenge against the book and it led her to a moment of weakness where she made the decision to bail on Pablo and Ash and help Ruby deal with her rotten demon kids. 

As Kelly dealt with her own issues, Ash and his father at last had the showdown between the two of them that we all knew was coming. But rather than hammer out their differences and open up about one another's pain...as Pablo suggested they do, they settled it as only a Williams can, in hammy and machismo fashion by seeing who could ride a mechanical bull the longest. Brock as it turns out, won, but the display of bravado did finally lead to an emotional moment, where Brock revealed to his son the pain that the events at the cabin had caused him, and what it had cost him emotionally and well...it was heartbreaking to see. But rather than allowing their broken relationship to end with a shattered moment such as that, fate had other ideas in mind allowing for Ash to finally redeem himself and prove his worth to his dear old dad. Since shortly after their low key blowout, Brock went off with Amber, who managed to show up to the party, and she was happy to reveal what kind of creature she had become...allowing for Ash to rush in and save the day, and prove to his pop that everything that happened at the cabin was true. 

That revelation gave us perhaps the sweetest moment the show has aired to date as Brock took a moment to apologize to his son, and let him know how damn proud he is of him after all...before the Delta straight up plowed through Brock Williams, putting an end to his life...and the sappy stuff and of course leaving the episode shrouded in mystery, since Brock was about to tell Ash a big time secret he had been keeping from him. What that is, we may now never know but when all is said and done, holy cow was this an outright incredible episode. It had it all, thrills, chills, bloody spills, feels and even a dash of Ted Raimi, and you can never have enough Ted Raimi in an Evil Dead story. Either way, it should be interesting to see where we go next, since the Ghostbeaters are broken emotionally, and the book and the Delta are still on the loose...

Dreams can be very powerful in determining what you do with your life, as long as you let them. Wanting to better yourself, everyone always says to follow them, but when some people do that, bad things can start to happen. If you have dreams of where you find happiness in whatever you do, those should be the ones that you follow, but if you are always dreaming of death and destruction, well maybe you should find a new hobby. There is nothing wrong with turning your dreams into reality, but you have to do it within reason, since some ways of making them come true are against the law and it's difficult to spin those kinds of dreams into something positive.

After her nightmare in the woods, Jennifer Hills has changed her life and her name and is now working in an office where nobody seems to like her. Going by the name Angela now and keeping everyone as far out of her life as possible, she has been deemed scary by her co-workers. Having dreams, even while awake about the attack, Angela tries to turn to her therapist for advice, but nothing the doctor says to her makes her feel any better. Not sure who to let into her life for fear of what could come out of it, she decides to start attending a group setting with other rape victims to see how they are coping.

Observing the first session from afar, Angela starts to talk to a couple of the victims, but forms a quick relationship with Marla. Marla’s views on how to handle things are very extreme and involve actually getting payback on her attackers, and Angela seems to like her outlook. While they are both still into men, they will not allow another one to hurt them, but when they start to feel bad for one of the younger victims in the group, Marla decides that action should be taken.  Beating the heck out of young Cassie’s stepfather for abusing her, the two wind up on an all-time high, but that feeling only lasts so long as Angela is about to find out.

When Marla does not meet her friend for coffee before a meeting, Angela hears that she has been killed and a Detective McDylan will be attending the meeting to find out if anyone knows anything about it. Knowing that it was her ex-boyfriend who committed the act, Angela relies on the police to get the job done, but when he goes free, it is time to release the vengeful Angela upon the city. Taking matters into her own hands once again, Angela makes Marla’s ex pay in ways that her dead friend suggested. Being questioned by the detective about what happened, Angela plays the victim accusing him of not doing his job and letting a murderer walk free. As Angela hears more and more about what is happening to young Cassie, she puts on her gloves and decides to make the old man pay for what he is doing to the young girl and thanks to the the advice from a dead victim’s father, she has fallen back into the path of delivering justice, but in her own special way.

This is a frightening view of the world through Jennifer Hills (now Angela’s) eyes, about what is right and wrong. As none of the victims in her group really were able to get closure on what happened to them, she is willing to go the extra mile to take care of that for them. Battling with her therapist about what justice really is, Angela is playing by her own rules and even though her brand of justice might be the right thing to do, it is most definitely against the law.  But this is not just about the system failing, it is about the victims not being heard by people that are able to help them. Even though this is Angela’s fight to bring justice to those that are not strong enough to do so, the Cassie storyline is heart breaking and with her mother refusing to accept the fact that her stepfather is taking advantage of the young girl, it just wrenches at your heart. This is a good final movie to the series since Jennifer has put it on herself to be judge, jury and executioner and is forced to pay for one of her crimes, but there is still work to done in her eyes and she is always looking for the next person to give her a reason to make things right.  Stay Scared.

Perhaps the beauty of growing up in the 1980's, is the amount of sheer wonder that came with the weekend trip to the video store where one could wander rows upon rows of VHS tapes and their glorious covers before taking home a gem that brought absolute joy to your heart, so much in fact...that you'd make sure to rent that movie next weekend as well.

That particular process is the genesis of my love of the horror genre, since my local video store always had a treasure trove of scary movies available for me to take home and years later, after that store closed since the times were a changin', DVD allowed me to collect my childhood favorites to enjoy once again...with a catch. Some of those films didn't quite receive much love or care in putting them onto disc, and the quality of these movies never quite improved. But there is a sudden surge in bringing horror back to life in high definition and it seems that all of my childhood favorites are getting a 21st Century facelift, and recently one of my all time B movie favorites received a blu ray release...1986's 'Chopping Mall'.

This fun and lighthearted romp revolved around teens being trapped in a mall in the middle of the night, surrounded and hunted by killer mall security robots and well, it truly is a sight to behold, filled to the brim with splatter and one liners and what I love most about this new release from Lionsgate is that as soon as you pop this new blu ray into your player, the exact feelings anyone experienced the first time they watched this epic feature come flooding back and that's largely in part thanks to the stunning high definition transfer that has been put together for us. The picture is flat out crystal clear and details that were never evident in the VHS or older DVD transfers are found here, allowing for every image to be bathed in 1980's neon, drawing the audience into this world in proper fashion and also demonstrating that the special effects in this film were absolutely top notch.

Honestly, they could have just released this new transfer with nothing else features wise and I still would have been happy, but there also extras abound to be found on this disc as well. There are three commentaries that I still need to sit through from Director Jim Wynorski, Co-Writer Steve Mitchell, Actress Kelli Maroney and a pair of film historians, along with some lovely interviews with the cast and crew, featurettes about specific aspects of the film and even a lost scene that is shown to us from the script that was never filmed, but it is so in line with the story that it would have been magical to have seen this in the picture. My only complaint, is that this release unfortunately doesn't have a surround sound audio mix. It's a minor complaint to say the least, since the original mono track present in this release does stay in line with the original experience we all enjoyed back in the day, but it would have been super cool to have this classic film get a facelift audio wise as well and immerse us with some surround effects.

If anything, the disc does compensate for that lack of surround sound with an isolated score option, but really all that matters in the end is that Chopping Mall has finally received the love and care from a distributor that it has always deserved. No more blurry transfers, no more muddled images, this is what Director Jim Wynorski intended for this film to look like and now every single time I pop this movie in, I'll be transported back to that magical Friday night, where something I had never seen before left my jaw dropped in pleasant surprise as Protector Robots exacted their robotic fury upon a group of poor teenagers trapped inside the Park Plaza Mall, and I couldn't be happier to own this one, and if you're a fan of this awesome and cheeseball flick, you need to add this new print to your collection as well.