Here’s what I learned from watching the remake of “Shutter”:
1. Even purely Asian women look Caucasian only because they should.
2. There are such things as spirit photography magazines.
3. There are experts in spirit photography.
4. Ghosts love a good game of piggyback!
5. And Maya Hazen is a stone cold fox.
Re-Writing Halloween: Interview with Comics scribe Stefan Hutchinson
Stefan Hutchinson’s been a great friend to Cinema Crazed since we began reviewing his comic books and our raves about his takes on “Halloween” and the mythos of Michael Myers have not been sycophantic. If you’ve ever read a comic from this man, you’ll know he’s one who understands the world John Carpenter unfolded for horror audiences, and why it’s remained so prevalent in the film community in spite of bad sequels and remakes. With that said, we hear from Hutchinson and his approach to the comics.
So what inspired you to write Tarantula Man?
Tarantula Man came about as a result of a long discussion between myself and the team who write the website material. We were having a conference about potential new content for the site, and Greg Mitchell (one of the site writers) suggested possibly doing Tommy Doyle’s comic books. My thoughts went into overdrive at that point and I came up with the rather wrong idea of a pedophile arachnid. I was thinking about things that would scare a child, and I instantly thought of how myself, as a child, I was constantly warned to avoid strangers. In my mind when I was young, strangers were shadowy figures that hung around by the school gates and in the garden at night. That was the sort of thing I was trying to tap into there.
The Walking Dead #53
Whoa, whoa, whoa, are you seriously jerking me around Kirkman? The final splash is all one big tease, right? It has to be. These three new characters would say anything to be let in to the farm and I believe it. This series was originally called “Night of the Living Dead” and we only had an inkling of what may have caused the dead uprising in that movie, and one possible explanation. There’s no way Kirkman would explain and hold our hands through why the dead suddenly started rising one day.
Feast II: Sloppy Seconds (2008)
As a product coming out of the gates of the Weinstein throes where they took a painfully mediocre television series and turned it in to a form of producing an honest to goodness horror film, “Feast” kicked my ass from here to Thailand as a truly great horror comedy with some bone breaking action, creepy horror, and genuine comedy that induced laughter whenever it damn well pleased. “Feast II” takes the same turns as the original did but this time with Gulager able to take his own twist and storytelling abilities and include his own usual suspects i.e. his wife and father who prominently featured in the first half of the sequel known as “Sloppy Seconds.”
Chainsaw Maid (2007)
Around four months ago I deeply considered reviewing “Chainsaw Maid” for the site mainly because I thought it was so well made. These days I’m almost sorry that I opted out of reviewing “Chainsaw Maid” because it’s become somewhat of a cult hit. How did this happen? The animation is rigid. The claymation basic, and the story is so incredible one note, and yet when all is said and done I’d actually sit and watch a ninety minute live action version of “Chainsaw Maid.” What’s the big deal about this movie? Well, as a person who can’t speak Asian, the director, and writer are basically unknown to me, and there’s a strong character motivation in spite of the fact that there’s zero dialogue.
Midnight Meat Train (2008)
I hate the subways, I’ve always hated the subways; they’re dark, dank, merciless and filled with running machines that you can’t control thus you are immediately trapped if you find yourself on the wrong pod in the middle of the night. What if it stops mid tunnel? Will it go? Will it ever keep running? How far does the rabbit hole go, and what’s in these holes we’ve never explored? That’s the questions posed in “Midnight Meat Train,” Ryuhei Kitamura’s tale of a subway serial killer that have been somewhat of an anomaly in the horror world. It’s one that many have desired to see but few have been able to, and I’m glad to say that it’s well worth the wait many of us are enduring that may go on for another year or so. Who knows when the masses will be able to see it, if at all?
Animation Unleashed: 100 Principles Every Animator, Comic Book Writers, Filmmakers, Video Artist, and Game Developer Should Know [Paperback]
There have been a lot of animation guides, but not one I could have easily used to animate my own film, or create a comic with. Most animation guides are a bit too rigid and advanced for someone of my skills so it was a blast to read “Animation Unleashed” a comprehensive and very helpful guide that tackles all bases of the animation and comic book medium.
From form, motion, and action, to shadows, right down to clouds. It’s a quick and fun read that will prove to be an asset to any of the aspiring animators or comic artists looking for help on taking their one dimensional characters or figures and turning them in to living breathing beings.