When it comes to the holidays, surrounding yourself with family and friends stands second to none. But what if everyone decides they want to get away from it all for the holiday season? Heading away from a cold and snowy home to a place where the sun always shines and you don’t need to wear a parka, could make for a wonderful time. There does not have to be a rhyme or reason behind taking a trip during the holidays, you just have to promise yourself that you are going to have fun while being away from home. Being too caught up in life can get the best of you if you let it, so don’t, and have fun during your vacation.

Sheriff Sam Tiler is still taking what happened in the town of Snowmonton to heart and needs to get some things off of his chest. When talking to his psychiatrist, Sam, he reveals all of the facts that have been kept secret for the past year about Jack Frost and how the killer snowman was defeated.  Even though it seems crazy to people in the real world, Sam knows what happened and no matter what anybody else says, he is not crazy. Seeing that his psychiatrist and his crew do not believe the story that he is telling, Sam needs to find another way to clear his mind and a vacation might do just that.

Everything in Snowmonton has been quiet for a year, but the FBI needs to get their hands on the experiment that got away from them. Finding the unmarked grave that Jack Frost’s remains were thrown into, they have located the anti-freeze bottles and return what's left of the serial killer to his rightful place at the agency. Performing new experiments on the liquid, they are not able to release the killer that terrorized the small town of Snowmonton last year, but when a cup of coffee gets spilled into the watery grave, Jack comes back to life and is ready to take out his revenge on Sam once again.

Arriving in the tropics with their friends Joe and Marla, Sam and his wife Anne are looking to have the time of their lives on this trip as well and with no snow to be seen, there should be no problems in letting the Jack Frost memory die away. But being able to traverse the ocean, Jack has found the island where his nemesis is hiding out and is ready to exact revenge. Needing to get himself back into fighting shape, Jack is able to locate a carrot at sea and charcoal on the island along with a new scarf from a model shoot. Killing everyone that he comes in contact with, Jack leaves his calling card, but only Sam and his old friend Agent Manners know what to expect as the rest of the island staff believe the killings are shark attacks. Trying to warn everyone that there is a killer loose on the island, Sam is labeled crazy and left to his own devices, but when it starts to snow in the tropical paradise, the sheriff and ex-FBI agent know that Jack is back and see that he has a new bag of tricks with him on this festive Christmas holiday.

You know how sequels are supposed to never as good as the originals? Well this movie did not disappoint me as much as I expected it to. With a couple cast members reprising their roles and a new bikini clad generation joining in, you get to see what Jack Frost is really about. I did not know how much power the killer snowman really had, but it turns out he does not need to be bundled up from the cold since he can bring the cold himself and that is not all he is packing this holiday. Watching as Sam seems to go mad when Jack shows his snowy face once again, it was great to see that Anne is ready to step up and make sure that nobody, not even an undying snowman will ruin her vacation. With some changes from the first film, you still get plenty of blood, an 'I’m melting' scene, talking ice and a deadly carrot that nobody wanted to see coming. Just a silly sequel, but I would expect nothing less from the creators that turned a favorite holiday character into a mass murderer.  Stay Scared.

One of the things that I really miss over the holidays is a good fear channel to help get me into the holiday spirit. Not being able to find all of the horror movies that my heart desires in one place anymore really puts me into the bah humbug mood, but when I am able to find at least one decent holiday horror movie, it brings my spirits back up to where they need to be. When the snow starts to fall and the nights seem to become never ending, there seems to be nothing better to cuddle up to than a fun Christmas horror movie to celebrate the spirit of the season.

The most notorious serial killer of his time, Jack Frost is about to face his death during one heck of a blizzard. Not being able to see the road is not going to keep the transfer men from doing their job of delivering the psychopath to his demise because when the hands on the clock strike midnight, the tyranny of Jack Frost will come to an end. But the transfer men are not the only ones that are having a problem seeing through the storm since the driver of a genetics truck is headed straight for them on the open road. When the two trucks collide, Jack finds his way to freedom once again since this will not be his night to die by anyone’s hand, but when the genetics truck unleashes its payload on Jack, he melts into the snow, never to be seen again.

Seeing the accident on the drive home with his family, Sam has some unanswered questions about what happened to the biggest collar of his career as sheriff, but with the news reporting that Jack is no longer with the living, he has little concern. But when seeing that one of the older locals of the town was murdered where he was sitting, Sam needs to know for sure that Jack is dead. Getting ahold of Agent Manners from the FBI, Sam is told that the murderer was killed in the accident and hearing it from a government agency, Sam is accepting of the answer. But there is something strange happening at the agency since Manners has been put in charge of finding a dead man that has been turned into a being that no one has ever seen before, thanks to a scientist named Stone. Keeping the news quiet about what really happened to Jack, the small town of Snowmonton is about to experience one strange night of complete and utter terror.

As Jack Frost arises in the form of a snowman, he quickly finds out that his killing talents will not go to waste, in fact there is plenty more that he can do. Stalking Sam’s home and having the sheriff’s boy give him a scarf, eyes and a nose, the killer is bent on revenge upon the family of the man that finally caught him. Being able to move around town without being noticed, Jack unleashes hell on his victims that initially think that he is nothing more than a harmless snowman. But showing his true spirit and with an end game in sight, Jack wants nothing more than to get credit for his kills, especially when his primary target Sam is in sight. With a little bit of help from Manners and Stone, Sam tries his hardest to protect the town against the homicidal snowman, but how can he kill something that is not really alive?

Just a classic slasher flick featuring a beloved character that always makes an appearance during Christmas. Even now I am still blown away by the story of a killer snowman that cannot be stopped in a conventional way. Being able to melt himself to reach the unreachable areas, Jack Frost seems to be the perfect killing machine and with no way to stop him, he will spread his own unique brand of evil holiday cheer. With plenty of ideas of how to kill the snowman killer, there does not seem to be a very good one until everyone is forced to face the fact that they are out snowed.  What is so magical about this movie? It could be the fact that the snowman will never die, or his ability to throw icicles through his opponents, or that he can change into water form whenever he wants, or that a common household appliance could save the day if anyone could find an extension cord for it in order to use it.  Stay Scared.

Despite the fact that the Evil Dead franchise is a devout horror story, filled to the brim with terrifying moments as the Evil tries its best to conquer mankind...it is also a story filled with hope. Because regardless of how hard darkness pushes to accomplish its goals, Ashley J. Williams is always there to push back and provide Evil with one hell of an ass whipping and keep all of mankind safe in the process. But the second season of Ash vs. Evil Dead has surprised all of us in a way we never expected...by robbing us of that hope in slow and methodical fashion.

After all, this was the first time we've ever seen Ash this vulnerable. His weaknesses have been on display all season long, and the hits just kept coming as he said goodbye to friends and family in rapid fire fashion and when all is said and done, the cliffhanger from last week truly provided all of us with the sense that maybe, just maybe, Ash could be defeated by the Evil for the first time in his life, unleashing darkness and horrors unimaginable upon all of mankind. Despite the fact that 'Second Coming' resolved the whole mess with Henrietta in quick and awesome fashion, it didn't take long for that sense of dread to return because 1980's Ruby found her way to the Cabin and after a brief attempt by Ruby Prime to convince her younger self to give up the book and her foolish quest for world domination...Ruby Prime received the business end of the Kandarian Dagger and we were forced to say goodbye to another Ghostbeater.

As if that wasn't a hard enough pill to swallow, we also quickly learned that Baal is no dummy after all. It turns out this demon was merely biding his time and when he slashed Pablo in the asylum...he  stole Pablo's skin, and banished the young man's soul to Hell. Meaning the idea to travel back in time to save Pablo and the world that Ash received was Baal all along and he used Pablo to finally exploit a weakness in Ash, all to get his hands on the Necronomicon and bring about the end of the world and with Ash and Kelly now in Baal's possession, the Jefe makes one last ploy to try and defeat good ol' Bill, by challenging him to one final showdown, one without powers; just mano y mano and the winner...gets everything they want in life and the loser...receives a fate worse than death. Oddly enough Baal agrees to the contest and that battle is on, but it doesn't take long for the age old demon to cheat, leaving Ash and Kelly in dire straits.

This was perhaps the darkest moment in the series to date and it's also when hope completely disappeared. Because, there was no secret plan to get out of this mess. No chainsaw based solution. It truly seemed as though the end had come at last for Ashley J. Williams...in fact Baal even mentioned the Prophecy stated he would be the one to defeat the Jefe. Their only way out of this mess...was for Ash to appeal to Baal's primitive side and in a quick moment of distraction, he managed to finally defeat the skin stealing jerk and send him, and the cabin straight back to Hell...and after a brief moment of respite, Pablo returned to our plane of existence as well and believe it or not ladies and gentlemen, Ash Williams...did it. He finally saved the world from evil, and he even enjoyed a hero's welcome back home and it finally seems as though Ash is going to be able to live a normal life filled with peace and quiet...at least for a little while. Because Ruby is still out there, keeping a close eye on the Jefe, and in the middle of the woods, someone has discovered the Necronomicon amid the ruins of the cabin...

Either way, kudos to the show for taking us on one hell of a ride in this season finale. There was truly no hope to be found, Ash and Kelly were genuinely in danger all episode long and that wonderful twist in storytelling allowed for the fear surging through our veins to quickly turn to joy when Ash delivered the killing blow to Baal and I'm fairly certain I'm not the only one who stood up and cheered at their television when that iconic moment went down, because Ash won baby, and he's finally getting to enjoy a little taste of happiness for a change and I hope it lasts for a while because it's only a matter of time before Ruby makes her move and the Jefe is called upon to save all of mankind once again. Until next time.

Fear can be quite the powerful weapon when used properly. If someone is made to fear for their life, their safety or the safety of those they love, they will do whatever it takes to keep themselves and those that matter to them safe and alive, even compromising their values in ways they never imagined all to see another day. But while fear can be an effective way to control people...that power never lasts. Eventually those being terrorized by it will simply have enough and do whatever they must to be free of it.

But how much is enough? At what point does a person draw the line to be free of fear? Those are important questions that The Walking Dead has been examining all season long since that is precisely how Negan rules his bold new world. Comply with his wishes, you live to see another day. Cross him and not only will you pay, but so will anyone that you hold near and dear. It's the potential of seeing more people hurt that changed Rick Grimes completely and over the past few weeks we've all been wondering what it will take to bring back his strength, to make him realize that things will only get worse with the Saviors before they get better and as it turns out...last night's episode, 'Hearts Still Beating', served as the final straw for Rick when it comes to Negan's rule and the events that transpired in this story, completely change the course of season seven going forward.

Before we get too deep into Rick's story however, it is important we take a few moments and discuss the fact that Mister Grimes wasn't the only one who had enough of this ugly new life last night. All episode long we were privy to fascinating moments and conversations where people reached their breaking point. Take Michonne for example, who continued her little joyride with her new Savior-buddy, and we quickly discovered that she wasn't on some kind of suicide mission to deal with Negan. It was about intel. She had to know what Alexandria was truly up against. She had to know her enemy's potential to truly understand as to whether or not she could inspire anyone back home to fight and fight hard. She didn't like what she found in the slightest...but it was incredible to see her scout the enemy like this and scheme against the Saviors from the shadows in the hopes of formulating a plan of attack.

Others however, were a touch more direct about their desire to fight, and Richard from the Kingdom was a shining example of this. He made a special voyage to Carol's Cottage to plead his case to her and Morgan, since he happened to be there as well, about the dangers the Saviors represented to the Kingdom...and how the three of them should find a way to convince King Ezekiel to break the truce and attack first. Granted, Carol and Morgan wanted no part of this, but to see how desperate Richard has become because of the life they now lead under Negan's rule was outright heartbreaking and it's clear that Richard wants nothing more than a wonderful future for his new home and a better life for the good people that helped to build this tiny slice of paradise. 

In a way however, those little vignettes and side stories were nothing new. We've seen resistance building for some time. We know that people are unhappy with Negan...so why put it front and center on the show again? Because these people are desperate. They need a leader, someone to show them the way and inspire them to fight...which brings us right back to Rick Grimes, who spent a fair chunk of this episode, risking his life and Aaron's for the stash on that boat, and while they were successful in finding something good for the Saviors, the events unfolding in Alexandria in their absence were about change everything.

Because as they loaded up the truck with goodies, Negan was still making himself at home, enjoying a fine spaghetti dinner with Carl, Olivia and Judith and as he settled into that suburban lifestyle, Spencer had machinations to make a power play. His haul pleased the Saviors, enough to where he decided to confront Negan to try to smooth things over and get Rick removed from power and this world and well...it was a slimy gesture that Negan simply did not approve of and he quickly dealt with Spencer in gruesome fashion, pushing Rosita to the edge and allowing her to get one shot off with her brand new bullet and well...that's when all hell broke loose. Because the bullet lodged itself into Lucille, saving Negan, but inspiring him to take proper revenge and in the wake of his fury, Olivia lost her life as well, Eugene was taken back to the Sanctuary with the Saviors and a stunned Rick Grimes, who arrived mere moments after the carnage occurred, finally came to realize that this is what life is really going to be like from now on.

Negan's latest tirade was the tipping point that Rick needed to snap out of his fear, to understand that this is not the world he wants to see his children grow up in and the time has come at last..to fight. He admitted his mistake to Michonne and apologized for his short sightedness and he gave Maggie the same courtesy at Hilltop before being reunited with Daryl, who made a daring escape from the Sanctuary, and Jesus and the all important Python and it would seem that, the dark cloud hanging over this season has cleared up and the people suffering under Negan's rule suddenly have their leader in Rick, a man that will unite them and inspire them to fight and be free and that closing shot of Rick walking toward the Barrington House with his friends at side was hopeful...yet ominous, because it's clear now...that war is coming...

Either way, what an awesome mid season finale for the show to put together. No more cliffhangers or surprises or revelations waiting for us at the end of the story. Just hope. Which was quite the surprise to say the least, because let's be honest, this first half of the season has been outright brutal. We've lost so many characters. We've seen Rick at his lowest and we've watched everyone suffer badly under Negan's rule which means...this was a welcome change of pace. There's a real sense of purpose returning to the show, harkening back to the themes we saw last year about creating a brand new world free of the mistakes of the last one and most importantly...a fight against the Saviors means that perhaps there will be justice for Glenn and Abraham at last and Rick...may get to to finally make good on his promise to kill Negan. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow...but the day is drawing near where Negan will pay for everything he's done and it should make for an absolutely incredible second half of the season. Until then.

For the most part, television shows do their best to stay within a certain formula or design to keep their fan base happy and to tell a certain type of story. There's nothing wrong with that of course, because we expect that from our favorite shows, but once in a great while a show comes along that defies that expectation and evolves and changes as the story progresses and in recent memory I can only think of one series that has been able to pull this off with incredible success, Ash vs. Evil Dead.

I say that because for the majority of season two we as fans have enjoyed a pretty steady diet of Evil Dead II style storytelling, where the jokes have flowed as freely as the blood making for one entertaining and fun ride...until last week that is. Because 'Ashy Slashy' signaled a paragidm shift in the show's overall tone, and suddenly the black comedy we all found ourselves chuckling at took a dark and terrifying turn, culminating with the loss of Pablo and considering the loss of a character as important as Pablo, it's safe to say we were all left wondering what the show would be like without him and how Ash would react to losing another friend and thankfully, the show wasted no time in answering all of our questions in last night's episode, 'Home Again', and unfortunately, there was little to like about the resolution we were provided with.

Case in point, we learned quickly that life without Pablo is downright awful. He was truly the optimist of the group and not having him serve as the voice of reason or the cheerleader for the Ghostbeaters made his passing hang heavy over this episode and holy cow...did it completely and utterly devastate Ash. We've seen him down before, but never like this, and he sunk to such a new low of drunken depression that wild inspiration came his way with an idea to save dear Pablo, by using the inscriptions on Pablo's body to send the remainder of the team back in time, where they could find the book before Ash's first encounter with it...thereby saving Ash 30 years of sorrow and bloodshed, and restoring life to everyone that Ash has had to say goodbye to over the years. It's a plan that no one agrees to until Ash gives them a reason to...and just like that we're back in 1982, right before the events of The Evil Dead. 

That's when the episode truly upped the ante in the horror realm, re-introducting us to Profressor Knowby and Henrietta, months before Ash would even set foot in the cabin and well, Knowby had a nasty little secret. We learned that the man that sounded mildly afraid of the Necronomicon on tape instead revered and loved its power, he simply didn't want his loved ones influenced by it and he was ready use the book to dump the demon from Henrietta's body into another unfortunate soul named Tayna. It was a plan that failed thanks to Ash releasing the possessed woman moments before learning about the evil that resided within her and naturally...all hell broke loose. Knowby fled the scene, leaving Ash and Tanya trapped in the cellar with Henrietta...

What makes this episode so dark and devastating however, is Ash's pain. He truly wants to do the right thing and save lives and well, the Evil knows this and exploits it at every single turn and that's how Henrietta was able to escape her chains and until Ash can figure out a proper balance between being a hero and doing what must be done, such mistakes will continue. But wow, this was quite the tour de force horror wise, Henrietta is ten times more terrifying than she was in Evil Dead II and her ability to move about the cellar unseen made for some uncomfortable moments and effective jump scares. But, the show didn't totally abandon the comedy aspect. We had another wonderful sequence of Bruce Campbell doing the physical comedy he is known for and the entire franchise got some awesome shout outs too, with a pair of references to Army of Darkness and Ted Raimi returned to the role of Henrietta as well and when all is said and done...this was a great way to set up the season finale. The group still has plenty at stake and it will be interesting to see how Ash gets out of the mess he's currently in and next week we will see if he finally embraces his role as the Jefe and saves the world from darkness...again. Until next time.

'The darkest hour' is something that so many of us dread, simply because we know that regardless of what circumstances pull us into it, we will experience a powerfully painful time in our lives, where our mettle is tested and our lives are tossed and turned about and while we often hear that going through these hard times will inevitably make us stronger, we know deep down that's not always the case. 

Because tough times can break us. If they continue, with no end in sight, the darkness surrounding us can also consume us to the point where we accept this as the new norm and surrender ourselves to it. While the darkest hour is one of the greatest tests we will ever go through, it is also a trap waiting to be sprung and The Walking Dead has reached a delicate point when it comes to this notion and its characters. Because the good people of Alexandria are dealing with their darkest hour and at this point, they are either trying to find a way out of the darkness or they're at the dangerous precipice where it is about to consume them...making last night's episode, 'Sing Me a Song', one of the most cerebral episodes of season seven thus far and quite frankly...one of its most terrifying since it also managed to give us further insight when it comes to Negan and what this man is all about. 

But before we get too far into that, let's take a moment and talk about the people that are losing the fight against fear and darkness, specifically in Spencer and Rick since last night saw both men teetering on the brink. When it comes to Spencer, he is a man who firmliy believes that Rick is responsible for all of the bad things that have come his way, and his disdain for the man is starting to cloud his ability to do anything productive or worthwhile for the group since his fury was vile enough to actually get under Father Gabriel's skin and if he cannot find a way out of this toxic place...he may cause more harm than good. Rick in the meantime, continues to be the man closest to losing himself to the proverbial void since last night he and Aaron resumed their hunt to find something extra special for Negan and while its clear they've found something potentially worthwhile...the fact that Rick is now ready to risk life and limb to get his hands on anything to please his new boss demonstrates the precarious position his mind is in.

However it wasn't all gloom and doom in this episode since we learned that some of the characters are ready to make a difference and fight to ensure that everyone in Alexandria has a better life. Michonne set a trap to capture a Savior in the hopes of being taken to Negan at the Sanctuary. Rosita dragged Eugene to the factory he discovered with Abraham to have a little chat about how Eugene needs to get off of his behind and do something more than simply be a coward...and to make her a bullet, which he begrudingly took care of for her and most importantly...Carl made it with Jesus to the Sanctuary where the young man wiped out two Saviors in the hopes of getting at Negan and while he did indeed get the man within the sights of his rifle, Carl was simply outnumbered and promptly captured and that's when the episode took quite the fascinating turn.

Because rather than bash Carl's skull in with Lucille; Negan decided it was high time to get to know the boy that refuses to be intimidated and he took Carl on a tour of the Sanctuary. It was here that we learned the people of this complex will do Negan's bidding on a moment's notice, without question and well, they often say the finest villains are simply misunderstood creatures that carry out terrifying actions with the best of intentions and believe it or not, Negan qualifies under that definition, because what this man truly stands for was revealed to us at last.

We learned last night that Negan is a man who believes the world we left behind before the dead walked the earth...got it all wrong. That the rules we set up didn't matter, that some of those old rules were stupid, so with a brave new world awaiting mankind...the time has come to re shape everything into what he envisions as a utopia. In Negan's world, rules exist and are followed or else one must face the consequences, giving us a sense of civlization once again and of course...only the strongest survive and are rewarded for it, starting with himself since he lives in the most lavish part of the Sanctuary, has multiple wives and only the finest food to eat and the most comfortable bed to sleep in and perhaps the most fascinating thing we learned about Negan after all this time, is that deep down, there is still some humanity to be found, where he actually does care about what people feel and think. 

That little surprise we discovered during a tense moment between he and Carl, where he demanded that Carl sing him a song and remove his eyepatch as part pennance for killing two of his men and part morbid curiosity, and once the patch was gone and the gore of Carl's injury was on display...Negan went to work, running his mouth and doing what he does best...breaking down the young man to the point of tears before genuinely showing regret over his words and sincerely apologizing, but the moment of levity simply didn't last. Neither man was able to achieve their goals in this little game of psychological warfare and once it became apparent that it was business as usual and that Negan was likely never going to shatter Carl's psyche, the decision was made to return to Alexandria with the younger Grimes to have a little talk with Rick and since the elder Grimes was out and about foraging for Negan, well he got his own tour of this suburban paradise, complete with an introduction to Judith Grimes...

That little meeting led to one chilling moment. With Negan, Carl and his sister sitting on the porch, lemonade ready to be poured, and Negan bouncing Judith on his knee as if he was her Uncle as he pondered exactly why he has bothered to keep Rick and Carl alive. Because it's clear that Carl's actions this week has convinced Negan that there is no breaking the Grimes clan which means he will have to resort to drastic measures to get them to comply and one has to wonder if Judith is going to be part of that plan. Either way, this turned out to be quite the powerful episode when all is said and done. One that was filled with danger and uneasiness at every turn since we never quite knew if Negan was going to do something horrible to Carl or not and it seems as though next week's midsesaon finale is going to be just as tense as we wait for Rick to return  and find this psychotic monster in his home and one has to wonder if what Negan has planned to further break Rick is going to backfire and bring back the leader that everyone in Alexandria needs. We'll find out next week...until then.