Being able to watch a movie being filmed must be one of the greatest things for people to experience. Seeing the actors get into their roles, watching the scenes being set up, listening to the director yelling action, this is something that I have always wanted to do. Even though it is difficult to be on set if you are not affiliated with the movie, there are plenty of lucky people that get to witness the magic that goes on behind the scenes, along with watching as an artist’s vision comes to life. I only hope that one day I will be privy to see this with my own eye, rather than hearing about it from someone else.

As Lieutenant Chad talks to the lucky spectators that are going to be watching a movie being made in front of their very eyes, he warns them that there is no point to what they are about to witness. Not caring, since they are able to see a movie come to life, they all pull out their binoculars and anxiously await for the movie to begin. As they watch an old discarded tire slowly coming to life, they are drawn to its struggles of staying upright and rolling in a straight line. But once it is able to get its bearings, there is nothing in its path that it will not be able to roll over in a manner of speaking.

Quickly learning that the force of rolling over plastic bottles and scorpions in the desert cannot be stopped, it tries to break an old beer bottle, but when it finds out that rolling will not destroy it, the tire has to try a different method. Shaking violently while looking at the bottle, the tire is able to make the bottle explode using its psionic powers. Knowing that its blunt force will only work for a short time, the tire moves down the road and sees a young woman driving by. Liking the way she looks, the tire uses its new found power once again to kill the engine in the car and slowly approaches. But there is a truck driver that is not paying attention to the road and when he finally looks up from his radio, he tries to swerve and miss the stalled car and hits the tire, sending it off of the road to its demise.

Getting back in on its treads, the tire awakens to find that its new found love has driven away without a thought. Rolling to the gas station and seeing the truck driver, the tire has the opportunity to exact revenge on the man. Using its psionic power once again, the tire focuses all of its energy on the man, causing his head to explode. Feeling comfortable about what it can do, the tire searches the surrounding area to try and find the woman it has been taken aback with. Rolling across a hotel, the tire finds an open door and gets a quick sneak peak of the goods, but before it is able to make itself known to the woman, the door is slammed on it. All the while, the fans are watching the tire's progression in the story and thinking that everything is just part of the show, they do not understand what is happening in front of their eyes. When Lieutenant Chad thinks that nobody is watching, he breaks character and tells the movie staff that they can move on with their day, but what he does not know is that the main character tire is actually starting to go on a rampage of epic proportions.

Did I just write an entire movie review about a killer tire? Yes, yes, I did and let me tell you why, the movie is freaking hilarious! Throwing out all the rules, you have a tire with the power to make people’s heads explode and it will go down as one of my favorite killer movies since the killer is a tire and does not have one line. The spectators are awesome as well since they are not allowed to leave their viewing area and meet their own tasty doom to make sure that the movie ends on a sour note. If you are looking to be entertained, this is the movie for you since there is no rhyme or reason behind it other than that, to entertain the audience. Along with an obsession story between a tire and a young woman that was only seen in passing, you might need to let all of your expectations fly off in the wind and just know that a tire can have feelings too. Stay Scared.

Over the course of the past eight episodes, The Haunting of Hill House has achieved some outright storytelling wonders. It’s managed to tell a sweeping and powerful tale, one that has featured some outstanding character development alongside some powerfully disturbing scares and it’s made a point to give us something exciting and new in every single chapter in this harrowing tale. And as I settled in to watch the ninth episode of the series, ‘Screaming Meemies’, I have to admit that I was supremely curious as to what surprises would be awaiting me in this one. 
 
Because the fact of the matter is, we have in many ways come to the end of the road when it comes to this story. We’ve come to know just about every single character inside and out, we’ve established the power of the house and we have returned to it as well for that matter meaning that either a grand two part finale was about to take place as the family dealt with this evil flippin’ house at last, or the show had one last surprise up its sleeve before reaching that all important confrontation and as it turns out, the latter of those options was where the episode decided to go, because there was actually one last character left to explore in this tale; Olivia Crain, the mother that the family left behind on that fateful night.
 
Which, was quite frankly, a welcome place for this story to go because much like Hugh, her story has been mired in bad memories and the shadows of this story and oddly enough, she went to the back of my mind thanks to the powerful stories that came before her. But this tale ended up providing us with quite the backstory for her, since we came to learn that Olivia was struggling mightily with her sanity during her time in Hill House, and all of those odd moments we saw her experience came about from the fact that her sensitive tuning allowed for the house and its ghosts to communicate with her and unfortunately for Olivia, perhaps the most dangerous ghost possible in the house took a liking to her.
 
Because this tale also gave us a proper introduction to and quality face time with the ghost that grabbed Luke at the end of episode eight, Poppy Hill, and the madness she supposedly carried with her in life, stayed with her in death since she offered up some awful ideas to Olivia, the kind that unfortunately take root and well, we came to learn in this tale that Olivia wasn’t mad as Steven implies, nor was she evil. She was just…scared. Scared of the future for her family, scared that this house would break them and on that final night, she nearly hurt her children when her fear broke her and consumed her and while she was broken, and alone, the house influenced her fears and her pain one more time, allowing for her to die like her daughter Nell would someday, setting in motion years of pain for her family…
 
If anything, this was quite the tragic tale and you truly feel for Olivia through and through in this one since her soul is genuinely tortured in this story and well, what surprised me the most about this particular episode is that it raises more questions than it answers about the house. Because the only evil I saw here, was Poppy’s special brand of crazy, and the influence she had over Olivia, not a house where blood drips from the walls, nor did I see any spirits coming forth trying to physically harm anyone. It led Olivia to a choice, making its evil quite ambiguous and with only one episode left, I’m quite curious as to whether or not that ambiguity will become clear, or if the house’s true intentions will continue to be mired in mystery. Either way, this was just another great episode and well, whether I like it or not, it’s time to hit ‘play next episode’ one more time, and see how this powerful story ends…

When studying a subject that you are passionate about, it is a joy when you are able to witness the place where it happened first hand. Although many things about the area could have changed over the years, you can feel the power of the region and you will be able to speak of the subject more fluently. There is something to be said about finding out what has happened in the past from a book, but when you are able to visit the area, you can be transported back in time and become a witness to what happened in a location. I have always wanted to visit locations where some of the major events of history have taken place and have been lucky enough to see a few first hand and that made it come to life in my own eyes.

While Professor Alan Driscoll is finishing up his lecture on some of the early witch trials that took place in the states, one of his prized students is genuinely taking notice. Nan Barlow has become a great admirer of the professor and his teachings and wants to find out more, even if it means she has to study outside of the classroom. Talking with the professor, Nan is urged to visit the small town of Whitewood where Elizabeth Selwyn was burned at the stake back in the late 1600’s. Nan takes this to heart and is able to travel to the old town over her two week break and see what it is all about.

While traveling to Whitewood, Nan picks up a hitchhiker that is looking to go to the same location. When arriving in the town, Nan is frightened to see that the man has mysteriously disappeared from her vehicle without a trace. Entering the Raven’s Inn as suggested by her professor, Nan is greeted by a grumpy owner, Mrs. Newlis. Even though Mrs. Newlis states that there is not an available room for the young coed to stay in, once Nan mentions Professor Driscoll, a room suddenly comes available. While getting settled in her room, Nan notices that there is a trap door that has been poorly covered and inquires to where it leads. Mrs. Newlis is not happy that the door has been found and lies about what its purpose is and leaves Nan on her own until the party starts in the common area. But when Nan is ready to attend the party, she sees that all of the guests have left, but when the church bell starts to ring towards the magic hour of thirteen, Nan has become a piece of history herself as the witch’s coven has come back to roost.

Patricia Russell has just moved back to Whitewood to take care of her ailing grandfather. Meeting Ms. Barlow once and lending her a book about witchcraft, Patricia finds it interesting that Nan has mysteriously vanished from the town without even saying goodbye. As the police come knocking at the Raven’s Inn, Patricia knows that there is something else amiss about the area and seeks out Professor Driscoll to inquire about what Nan was doing in the town. Without a genuine answer from the professor, Patricia passes her story on to Nan’s brother as well and Richard Barlow is not willing to let his sister’s disappearance go on unchecked. Heading up to Whitewood himself to find what the police could not, Richard finds that Patricia is in grave danger and only he will be able to keep the spirits of the night at bay so that one of them can escape the evil town.

Who does not like a good old story about witchcraft? I know that if it is written correctly, I will never shy away from the subject, especially when it starts to work itself into current day. These stories of cursed areas could just be common lore, but for the most part, if there is a strange story about an area, there is usually a morsel of truth behind it. The old school horror movies that have limited special effects can be scarier than the new ones that are coming out for one reason, they have to focus on the actors and nothing else. With grotesque fog covering the ground and characters with crazy eyes coming for their prize, it is amazing that anyone made it out of this area without mental scarring, since the roles were handled with conviction. Stay Scared.

Confrontation, especially with family members, is something that few people look forward to in life. After all, it takes a lot of effort and nerve to finally tell someone in our family exactly how we feel about a particular issue that’s created a conflict, and to make matters worse, there are no guarantees that taking the time to air out your grievances will provide either party with resolution, and worst of all, it could complicate matters further and escalate an already icy situation. All of those possibilities are why we tend to avoid confrontation as a whole, but like it or not, as some point, things will come to a head and both parties will clash and well, when it comes to The Haunting of Hill House, that all-important moment arrived in the next episode, ‘Witness Marks’.
 
Which in all honesty, should come as no surprise. There’s a lot of bad blood in the Crain family, and a lot of ugly things were said and revealed in ‘Two Storms’ and now that Nell has been laid to rest, it was only a matter of time before everything came to a head and thankfully, this episode took the time to explore all the issues brewing within the family by giving us equal face time with everyone that had a proverbial hatchet to bury and how it pulled that off, was actually quite impressive. Because Luke’s disappearance allowed for Theo and Shirley and Hugh and Steven a have little bit of quiet time wherein, they could finally sit down and discuss their respective problems and well, these two confrontations started off pretty damn ugly.
 
Because this allowed for Shirley to unleash her fury on her sister for revealing the secret about Kevin’s decision to take the money and it also allowed for Theo to fire back for a change on Shirley’s ‘holier than thou’ attitude and similar emotional punches were thrown inside the car that Steve and Hugh were riding in as they searched for Luke around town as the son lectured the father for his mistakes and vice versa and it truly seemed as though there would be no resolution when it comes to this family’s problems. But eventually, Theo and Shirley came to realize the error of their ways, and Steven finally saw Hugh as a father that cared because Hugh did finally play the part at last and oddly enough, I enjoyed every single second of these moments due to the fact…that it needed to happen.
 
After all, they’re family, and bad experiences or no, that will never change and now that they are losing people they love, mending their messes is paramount. But, while it seems as though this particular tale stepped away from the scares that we all came to here to see, we do need to talk about those moments as well because holy crap, were they impactful. After all, the banging on the walls sequence was downright chilling and Nell’s surprise appearance straight up scared me so bad I woke up my sleeping beagle when I cried out in surprise and of course, that ending is about as ominous as it gets since we came to learn that Luke planned to burn Hill House to the ground, only to discover…it won’t go quietly into the night.
 
If anything, that closing scene makes me damn nervous, simply due to the fact that we don’t know if Luke’s okay since a ghost we’ve never seen before got its cold and chilling hands upon him and Hugh’s revelation that the kids are an ‘unfinished meal’ to the house only further compounds my worry for Luke’s future. Either way, this episode certainly serves as the grand setup when all is said and done. Because with their issues resolved, all that remains is the house and I’m quite curious to see if I am about to watch a powerhouse two-part finale, or if the series has another surprise storytelling wise up its sleeve, and the only way to find out, is to push ahead so on that note, I’m off to see what other horrors await us in this awful house. Until next time.   

​Adding reality to a story is something that every good writer wants to do. It makes the characters into real people that the audience can identify with, along with a story that cannot be passed up. But how far would a story teller go to capture this sort of reality if they have never seen nor witnessed anything dealing with the occult? It could be a dangerous proposition if you do not truly understand what you are dealing with, especially if you have been lucky enough to find some of their old reading material that houses ancient spells and chants. Just do your research when it comes to this, and if you are lucky enough to have the problem of running into some old relics, you will at least know which ones hold power, while others can be joked around with.

Eric Hartman is ready to make one of the greatest movies of his career, one having to do with a true story. As he has been fascinated by the old Beal murders that took place years ago, he is now lucky enough to have secured the house where they happened to film the story. But not everything is bubble gum and rainbows for the director as the caretaker of the house will not let the story of the murders be told the wrong way. After interrupting a scene, the caretaker takes Eric and his cast on a tour of the old house and makes sure that everyone knows more about the seven people who died, along with the method of death they came by. 

Young producer and actor David seems to know a lot about the old Beal house as well and when looking around is not afraid to have his voice heard. When arriving in one of the bedrooms, the cast finds a secret door that leads into the library that they have previously shot in. Taking a better look around this time, David finds an old book, The Tibetan Book of the Dead which has all kinds of spells and chants that would be perfect for the movie and make it just that much more real. Reading the book in his free time, he is able to bring a couple of lines to Eric who gladly passes it off to his actresses and the group is ready to make this the best telling of the Beal murders as humanly possible. 

All it is not what it seems around the house after Eric tells off the caretaker and he is spotted in the graveyard entering a grave. The cast gets a little bit spooked, but continue on with their work since they only have to spend a few days in the creepy old house. During his downtime, David continues to read the old book, looking for something else that can be used in the movie, but winds up becoming obsessed with it during the night. Being broken free from a trance, David finds another chant that would be perfect for the shoot, but what he does not understand is that it actually works in bringing the dead back to life. As the final scene of the movie is filmed, the nameless member of the graveyard is brought back to life and the cast and crew are in grave danger of becoming the next victims of the Beal house.

I am a sucker for a movie that has to deal with the occult, mostly because I am still undecided if the old stories you hear about it are true. There is always a bit of truth behind these types of stories and it is up to you to decide which part it is. The opening credits of this movie sets the mood for the film going forward as you get to witness that madness that took place in the house so many years ago and with the stories being retold throughout, you are left waiting to see what will happen to the visitors. In reality, the movie is based around the director and the troubles he has to go through to make his movie, but then the spooky stuff really starts to happen during the final scene. It might not be one the scariest movies ever made, but you do not feel cheated when the final credits roll since the payoff is unexpected. Stay Scared.

​If there’s one particular horror trope that often irks me, it’s the ‘evil parent’ cliché. You know what I’m talking about, there’s either a mother or a father that’s an outright jerk, and they offer no real substance to the story outside of their jerkishness and their inability to grow or provide anything more than fury and ire is just downright annoying and well, this particular trope has left me extremely curious as to where exactly The Haunting of Hill House is going to go with Hugh Crain, the bumbling father of the family, simply because…he’s either going to end up being that irrelevant and annoying character, or he’ll offer more.
 
But up until this point, he’s been part of the shadows and a lightning rod for the family’s electric ire but at long last, Hugh’s day in the sun finally arrived with the seventh episode of the series, ‘Eulogy’. Because this particular tale focused heavily on Hugh, and his strange and quirky habits so that we could finally get to the know the man and know what he was thinking and as it turns out, he won’t be some silly fixture or cliché in this story, he’s…just like the kids, he’s broken and he’s hurt and lost in life and with good reason, because he in essence watched his wife outright disappear before his very eyes and that was the first real fascinating part of Hugh’s story, his perspective on things when his family was living at Hill House.
 
Because what we came to see during his time there, was that Hugh did everything and anything to ignore the warning signs surrounding the house. He simply believed that the trauma of moving and the hardships that came with trying to get the house ready for sale quickly had rattled his family to the point where their stress was manifesting these wild hallucinations. But a chilling chat with Mister Dudley, and a dark discovery in the walls alongside some terrifying behavior from his wife, started to make him wonder in regard to the power of the house and clearly, the last night changed him fundamentally, which brings us back to what we learned about the man in present day.
 
If anything, his interaction with his children and his sister in the here and the now, demonstrated the fact that Hugh has become a former shell of himself. Because younger Hugh, believed he could conquer the world with his wife and family at his side and that anything in life could be fixed with a little elbow grease and can-do attitude. But now, he lives life in sheepish fashion, and even when he knows what needs to be done to fix a particular problem, he refuses to take that path, instead opting to remain in the shadows and leave things broken. But, that may be changing, since Luke’s strange, drug related behavior at the wake, alongside Theo catching a glimpse of a twisted version of her mom from Hill House, prompted Hugh to say something for a change, and…be there for his kids.
 
Either way, this was another fascinating episode to say the least and kudos to this story for taking the time to change up the scares in this one since really, the ghosts don’t show up en masse until the end of the tale and most of the tension here comes about from what’s inside the basement wall at Hill House and that, and Mister Dudley’s terrifying tale, pay off in spades for certain. But what matters most, is that Hugh is a complete character at last, and he is equally as flawed and afraid as his children and well, now I’m rooting for the guy and I hope he finds redemption down the line. But that will likely have to wait, because Luke is missing, and we are all wondering now if he’s up to something new, or if he’s hell bent on returning to the power of drugs to ease his pain. Only time will tell, and well, it’s best I simply find out now, so if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to watch the next chapter in this incredible story. Until next time.

When it comes to the creative world, both printed and visual, the cliché or the trope is something that audiences often lament. Because setting in to watch a story that leans upon them heavily, means that we are likely in for a boring affair, one that spoon feeds everything to its audience and well, we simply want better than that when we pick up a book, head out to the movies or settle in to watch a television series. However, despite how we feel about clichés and tropes, sometimes they are a necessary evil in storytelling simply because a particular concept that is often repeated in stories, is revisited because has not been solved by humanity in the slightest.
 
Take for example, confronting one’s past. It is a trope that quite frankly we see time and time again across every single genre out there due to the fact that no one quite knows how to do it right and because it’s one of the few recycled notions that finds a way to entertain and intrigue us. After all, seeing compelling characters struggle with the difficulty that comes with letting yesterday go makes for fine storytelling to say the least and somehow, I missed the fact that The Walking Dead was quietly setting this concept up to become a focal point in its own brand of storytelling in prior weeks, because it outright took me by surprise when it came to a head and claimed the center stage in last night’s episode, ‘The Obliged’.
 
Because this particular tale saw everyone’s struggle with what happened during the war boil over at last, with quite frankly, strenuous and uncomfortable results, the kind that will undoubtedly change the course of the story and the fragile peace between these communities forever going forward. For example, the fact that Maggie started her long trek toward Alexandria to enact a little slice of revenge for her fallen husband will send all kinds of shockwaves through the communities if she is successful and the armed conflict at the construction site was ugly to say the least and no good will come from the ‘eye for an eye’ mentality that the former Saviors put forth in that moment.
 
Yet oddly enough, those two storylines are not at the top of my mind when it comes to this particular tale, simply because I have no doubt the repercussions there will be addressed in upcoming episodes. No instead I want to discuss the two more intimate moments that went down in this story, the ones that involved Negan and Michonne and Rick and Daryl because those interactions, spoke volumes to the past and the struggle that everyone is going through in order to be rid of it and oddly enough, said struggle allowed for us to once again see the more human side of Negan since he actually took the time to open up to Michonne in this tale. 

Granted, he did so in the saucy, jackass way that only he can, but it’s obvious that it what he had to say was genuine and his mistakes and his missteps as leader of the Saviors were clearly on his mind in this story, and he tried to find some kind of connection with Michonne in an effort to make his stay in that cell easier and resolve his nagging conscience and unfortunately for Michonne, the raw emotion Negan put on display actually managed to get to her, and put a little doubt in her mind as to whether or not she was doing the right thing by embracing her new role as a leader and not the more fiery instincts that burned within her soul and while she was able to speak to why she chose the more noble path, it’s obvious that neither person here could abandon the past since they both carried with them the pain of those they lost. But it would seem Michonne is further along in resolving yesterday than Negan is, since he is trapped in the dark with only his memories to keep him company.
 
Yet, while that little cat and mouse game was fascinating in its own right, it paled in comparison to the showdown that Rick and Daryl went through. Because this was it, all the tension and irritation between these two men finally exploded into something more and their physical altercation and perilous situation finally allowed for the two of them to settle down and hash out their issues and it was here that we learned that Rick really hasn’t ever gotten over the death of his son, he’s merely used it as fuel to try and put together a dream that may not come to fruition and in what seemed like a parallel to the other storyline, Daryl admitted he wasn’t over what happened to Glenn and Abraham either, and that turned out to be a moment of growth and wisdom for Daryl since he actually offered up potential solutions to the problems at hand.
 
Because he flat out pointed out that people trusted Rick, and believed in him, but it seemed as though he no longer offered that same courtesy to the people closest to him, and his inability to communicate the dream and talk to people to resolve their concerns or get their buy in, was his greatest mistake and well, while it was magnificent to see an angry Daryl offer a way forward at last, it would seem as though Rick may never get the opportunity to correct his mistakes. For the final moments in this tale, as Rick tried to divert the dead away from the bridge and save it, he found himself badly wounded, with the living dead closing in and well, just like that, the grand setup arrived for Rick Grimes’ final episode on The Walking Dead.
 
Which is a sobering thought to say the least, and it’s supremely weird to know that next week we are going to say goodbye to this iconic horror character. But here we are, the end for Rick is near. But I am getting ahead of myself. It’s not quite time to bid farewell to Rick and one cannot let that cliffhanger overshadow one incredible episode. Because everything that happened here was powerful and compelling and important and trope or no, the story handled the past and its power in magnificent fashion and it should be intriguing to see if these communities can put the bad blood behind them and forge a new world without the legendary Rick Grimes since next week, his journey comes to an end…  

There was a time when the horror genre did not enjoy the incredible mainstream success that it does today. The finest the genre had to offer could only be found in the back of your local video store, and any horror related television programming aired at the latest of hours on a Friday or a Saturday night. But that was then and this is now since horror is the hottest thing out there in film and television and it is enjoying a level of success rivaled only by the superhero genre.

But success is not the only major change to come to the genre, there have been incredible changes to how these scary stories are told as well. These days, the terror we often experience comes by way of a reboot or a reimagining and the debate as to whether or not that is a good thing should be saved for another time, because these re-hashings of horror classics make incredible money at the box office; and in an era where revenue is king for any film production company, the state of the industry is about as healthy as it gets. 

Beyond being cash cows however, there is another element present in these stories that has evolved as well, that simply wasn't there when the genre hit the big time in the 1940's and 1950's, their ability to speak to current events in our world by way of powerful social commentary. But the golden era of horror, the late 1960's to 1980's changed all that since a common thread could be found within the films released during that era, a subtle yet in depth look or message about who we were as a society at that particular point in time in our history. Shivers for example broke down human sexuality and the sexual revolution while films like Dawn of the Dead examined our obsession with consumerism with great depth and care.

But these days it seems like it is all about the jump scares, which begs the question...does horror need to be or is it still socially relevant anymore? The answer to that question is that horror has never stopped being relevant to the times, it's simply relevant in a different fashion. After all, when horror began to explore these more philosophical concepts in cinema, we were a nation struggling to discover its identity and its future, we needed the escape and the analysis to help us quietly understand the madness surrounding us. But in present day our needs and our fears have changed greatly and in this post 9/11 era of American history, our focus is on the horrors that mankind is capable of and horror now feeds off of that.

A prime example of this is evident when it comes to The Walking Dead, where the walking corpses that once served as the greatest threat to mankind and represented the worst parts of our species in George Romero's zombie tales have now become nothing more than a force of nature, one to be avoided and dealt with accordingly since the real terror on the show just so happens to be humanity. Men like the Governor or now Negan demonstrate the real threat at hand and it doesn't end there. Hannibal and even Bates Motel were shows that brought classic ideas back to life but focused more on the monsters that can lurk within the hearts of men, and even the new Halloween sequel taps into the #MeToo movement and the fight against the old guard that is desperate to keep the world's inevitable progress at bay.

Horror is a genre that much like the creatures that it features, evolves at every step. It finds new ways to survive and new ways to grow and this current renaissance is proof of that because really, the genre is about the experience and how it in a way heals us. That may sound wild but consider what one goes through when one watches these tales of terror. They take us on an ugly and terrifying ride but when all is said and done...we are safe when we come out of the other side and they give us a sense of comfort in providing us with that little psychological gift. But what matters more is that while on the surface it seems as though the genre has lost its way in a world of remakes, it's doing just fine, and it is still showing us the parts of our world we sometimes refuse to see and it still reminds us that evil exists and it's up to mankind to stand up to it. 

Just needing to get away from it all to recharge your batteries is one thing we all need to do. I know I have used this line several times, but it is true. Everyone needs a vacation once in a while, time away to clear your head and just get back to what you are best at, being you. Finding that one spot where you feel most comfortable is the difficult thing, but once you find it, you can never let it go.

Two best friends Tucker and Dale are on their way to their new vacation home. Needing to get away from everyday life for a bit and just focus on what is there seems to be the best way for them to get to feeling better. The two hillbillies are trying to purchase some supplies when a group of college kids hit up the local shop and try to get their hands on some beer. Dale tries to make a good impression on the young ladies at hand but can’t help the fact that everything he does seems to scare them away.

The college kids make it up to their camp site and start to drink and tell stories. Chad, the leader of the pack tells a story about a pair of hillbillies who killed everyone who set up camp there twenty years earlier. Putting everyone on edge, the group decides to unwind and go for a swim in the nearby lake. Minding their own business, Tucker and Dale are going fishing at the same time…in the same lake. Seeing a very pretty girl getting undressed on the top of a rock, the two make a sound that causes her to fall and hit her head. Doing nothing wrong, the two save her from drowning, but all the college kids can think about is the killer hillbilly story and run away.

​Waking up in a strange house, the college beauty Allison is scared out of her mind and when the supposed attacker enters the room she cannot stop screaming. Dale turns away in shame and apologizes for bringing her pancakes and makes her bacon and eggs instead. Allison then understands that these two are not the hillbilly killers she has heard about, but two guys that are just out to have a good time. Dale never thought he would be good at talking to the ladies, but when he is able to sit down and play a board game with Allison, he finds that it is much easier than he could have ever imagined. Outside of the cabin however, the group of college kids are planning their attack to get their friend back and rid the world of the savage killers.

Tucker & Dale vs Evil is a tale of misunderstanding. As everyone believes in all of the different stereotypes that are attached to people, that is what brings this movie to life. As Tucker and Dale are out on their holiday, trying to fix up their new vacation home they are met with all kinds of resistance from the college kids who think they are the made-up killers. As the two go on their normal duties of cleaning up their new residence, the college kids try to attack but end up killing themselves. Allison tries her hardest to keep the two groups from fighting, but cannot as her friend’s minds cannot be changed. 

This movie is just fantastic, delivering all of the classic horror scenes you could ever imagine along with the laughs to go along with them. I am ashamed that it has taken me so long to see Tucker & Dale vs Evil and it falls back into the stereotyping based upon the DVD cover. It looked stupid, but once you give it a chance you will not be able to draw yourself away from the screen. Blood? Yes. Horror? Kind of. Humor? Oh, heck yes!  I could not stop laughing as the first college kid dies and did not stop until the last one did. With everything being an accident and a wood chipper incident reminiscent of Fargo you should not be worried about what you are getting into. If you are a fan of horror movies and love comedies as well, this movie will make you a very happy camper. Stay Scared…and Smiling.

There was a time, when all of my favorite horror films were hitting the shelves by way of new DVD releases and these particular releases, featured all kinds of goodies for horror fans everywhere. Fresh commentaries, behind the scenes goodies we never knew existed and the list of those special features goes on and on. But eventually, that particular market seemingly dried up and future releases on Blu-Ray only offered a re-release of those all-important features. That’s not a totally bad thing by any means, because said films look amazing in high def, but outside of the lack of new goodies, something more was missing from those particular editions of our favorite horror films.
 
Quite frankly, they just felt like passionless, obligatory releases and that’s a problem, because injecting passion and care into said releases makes for an exciting experience for the fan. It amps them up and motivates them to either rush out and buy them or pre-order them because they know they’re getting something special. They’re getting something a fellow fan cares about and everything on the disc is designed to celebrate the wonder of those movies and what they stand for and well, that’s why I’m such a big fan of Scream Factory, because they offer up that care and that passion and recently, they just released a magnificent collector’s edition of one of my favorite films, Creepshow.
 
Now what makes this particular release of Creepshow so important, is that it meets all of the criteria we just discussed. It’s a love letter to Stephen King and George Romero’s comic book themed masterpiece since it features all kinds of incredible documentaries on just about anything and everything to do with the film, even going so far as to feature an interview with the man that put together the animation for the opening credits and there’s even a location tour and behind the scenes video from Tom Savini to be found here and all of this was just incredible to watch and pour over since it gave me brand new insight into this iconic motion picture.
 
But, all special features aside, we need to talk about the actual transfer itself. Because the film’s Director of Photography, Michael Gornick, oversaw a brand new 4K remaster of the original camera negative and my goodness, Creepshow has never looked better. Everything simply pops here, and the detail you will find in this print is simply incredible, and the stunning images present here are complimented nicely by a wonderful 5.1. DTS surround mix, the first one ever for this film, I believe, and it is just a delight to hear an enhanced soundtrack for this movie, and it’s equally as awesome to hear the subtle sound effects rolling around the room in natural and crisp fashion.
 
So really, if you’re a horror fan or a George Romero fan, this edition of the film is an absolute must own, and honestly, it’s been a long time since I found myself this excited over a Blu-Ray re-release of one of my favorite horror films. But the love is present in this edition, and the care that went into its creation is downright incredible and my goodness, the end result is utterly breathtaking to say the least and this is an edition that I will cherish for some time and hopefully you will too, because I highly recommend this re-release of the film, because it’s about as definitive as it gets and it breathes new life, into an age old Romero classic.