READS: More Scary As Hell Stuff From Dark Horse Comics

Posted on December 6, 2015 by geelw

‘Tis the season to still have some scary reads handy if one likes such stuff and thankfully, Dark Horse Comics has been delivering the goods all year long. I tend to wait until assorted trade paperbacks drop over buying single issues due to cost and space reasons, plus it ends up smarter reading stories in collected form (for me, at least).

One of the better horror comics I’ve read is Harrow County, a nice southern gothic tale from writer Cullen Bunn and artist Tyler Crook. In the first collection, Harrow County – Countless Haints ($14.99), the pair have concocted up a terrifying tale that from the very first page of the very first issue will have you hooked in and turning pages with wider eyes and a growing sense of dread. The amazing thing is as great and chilling as the first issue is, the rest of the stories in this first volume only get better. If you’re prone to nightmares, don’t read the whole book in one shot unless you like sleeping with both eyeballs wide open looking for vengeful witches in the corners.

Talk about killer openings, folks…

Continue reading →

Lord Dregg’s Schemes Can’t Keep Dimension X Turtles From Safe Travels!

Posted on November 20, 2015 by geelw

Ha. Lord Dregg (Ruler of Planet Sectoid!), you’re so darn cleaver aren’t you? Pretending to be sick and letting Playmates send over a box of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Dimension X figures that didn’t include you because you were under the weather and didn’t want to give Leo, Don, Mike, and Raph your supposed “cold” during the FedEx ride over.

And wouldn’t you know it? That box showed up looking as if a fight broke out on whatever mode of transport it was shipped in and it was used to bash someone over the head with. Or perhaps Lord Dregg hired a special driver to make sure that package got some extra TLC (Tackled Like Crazy!) on the way here.

But guess what, Dregg? YOU LOSE (again!):

Take THAT, Dregg!

Continue reading →

Earth Defense Force 2 and EDF 4.1 Get Dated: Prepare The Time-Sink Ray!

Posted on November 19, 2015 by geelw

Excellent. Between the new trailers above and below, the brand spankin’ new official site and the fact that both games come out on the same day as retail (YES!) and digital product, it’s a fine and dandy day for fans of Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders From Planet Space (PS Vita, $29.99) and Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair (PS4, $49.99). That lovely release date of December 8, 2015 means that plenty of fans of both titles are getting exactly what they’ve wanted from Santa, Krampus or whomever else buys their gifts. Buy someone a copy of this game and you won’t see them for weeks because all they’ll be doing in their spare time is blasting big space bugs and bigger spaceships, robots and other space beasties all day and night. Yes, your inner eight-year old kaiju fan will be wholly pleased, but don’t expect this to be an easy ride at all.

Getting these as physical copies (thanks Xseed!) is going to make a lot of EDF fans happier because it’s something they’ve desired with every game in the series and Xseed kept its ear to the ground and made it happen. As for the EDF 4.1 blooper reel below… er, well… I’ll give Xseed a pass on that one because the game is so much fun that a little comic relief won’t hurt it one bit.

Anyway, go get some finger exercises in and ask the boss for some time off in December. Once these games land in stores and on PSN, you’re not going anywhere for a while.

Blu-Ray Review: The Happiness of the Katakuris

Posted on November 14, 2015 by geelw

I’ve never seen The Quiet Family, Jee-woon Kim’s 1998 horror/comedy film that inspired Takashi Miike’s oddball 2001 “remake” The Happiness of the Katakuris. But I’m going to track the original down one of these days just to see how that film inspired Miike to make one of the more out there genre films of the previous decade.

While its not anywhere close to perfect, a bit too long and not even a tiny bit frightening, it’s certainly somewhat gleefully disturbing thanks to the cheery performances by the main cast and the black comedy revolving around the mostly accidental deaths that occur in and around the family’s small, out of the way mountain inn. The Katakuris bizarre mix of live action, wild stop motion animation, mild gore and full-on musical numbers make it a knockout flick worth repeat viewings provided you like what’s here. Miike, known for more his prolific output in multiple genres as well as some truly memorable extreme films (Audition, Ichi The Killer, Gozu) infuses The Katakuris with his trademarks and adds a decidedly Japanese sense of “no matter what!” spirit that gets the family through its assorted misadventures. Continue reading →

BUY IT! Think Geek Wants The Last of Your Caps For Some Cool Fallout 4 Swag

Posted on November 9, 2015 by geelw

So, you tracked down one of those super-hard to get Fallout 4 and expensive (and out of stock) Pip-Boy Editions or bought that Fallout Anthology for a pal in order to introduce them to the wonderful post-nuclear apocalypse world of Bethesda Studios’ new RPG (on sale now, by the way!). You’re broke and happy after all that impulse buying but guess what? You’re not quite done spending yet. Think Geek wants your last (or not last) hundred bucks (and nope, they’re not taking bottle caps) for an exclusive set of items that’s actually a darn good deal.

Available as we speak, the Fallout 4 Mystery Bundle is only a “Mystery” if you’re reading this post with both eyeballs covered. Actually, it’s called both a Vault-Tec Vault Dweller’s Orientation Kit and a ThinkGeek Fallout 4 Vault 111 Loot Box on the Think Geek site, so perhaps the “Mystery” is why the email I got calls it one in the first place. Or maybe that’s supposed to stay a mystery?

Anyway, inside that box you’ll get once you place an order are on each of the following items:

· 7” Intelligence Bobblehead

· Nuka-Cola Shot Glass

· Vault 111 Hoodie

· Full Size F04 Flag

· Vault 111 Backpack

· Vault 111 Keychain

· Vault 111 Lunch Box

See, that’s definitely worth a Franklin, right? Granted, all you’ll do is sit inside and wear all the stuff that’s wearable, stack everything else around where you’ll be camped out playing the game and keep some food and beverages handy because other than trips to the restroom, you’re not going anywhere soon.

Earth Defense Force 4.1: Xseed Reminds You Your Holiday Season Will Be A Total Blast

Posted on October 21, 2015 by geelw

Sandlot, I just LOVE what you’ve done with the PS4 hardware. The Japanese developer’s first game for the console, Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair isn’t just a simple “port” of their last game at all. New enemies, missions and gear are here for EDF veterans to play around with and the MUCH smoother frame rate (okay, 60fps dipping to 30 at chaotic times is a great thing for the series) and all new lighting effects make the game finally up to snuff with modern action games. Granted, the gameplay is still the beautiful old-school tough it needs to be on the higher difficulty levels. But now we old-timers won’t have to listen to newbies gargling out complaints about the major slowdown and choppiness or other issues the series was known for in previous installments.

My sole complaint with the game is the ESRB rating. Some parents won’t buy “M” rated games for the brood because they just don’t (cue remembrances of them falling for little Johnny sneaking Grand Theft Auto game on the holiday gift list that one time, oops!). But what’s here is a crazy amount of fun whether played solo or online with friends and yep, family. Anyway, don’t let a bit of bug blood and an occasional PG-13 swear keep you from this one. That well over 80 hours of giant bug/lizard/robot/spaceship blasting you’ll be doing will help get the family in shape for any space alien invasion. And if they happen to be friendly aliens… well, we can at least hope they like videogames about fantastic impossibilities such as this game shows off sowell.

READS: The Haunt of Fear Still Packs A Moldy Wallop

Posted on October 19, 2015 by geelw

Sometimes a good old scare is all you need and with Halloween right around the corner (with a baseball bat in claw), you can stay safely indoors and get your fright on thanks to Dark Horse Comics. They’ve been reprinting a bunch of lovely volumes of classic EC Comics and the latest, The EC Archives: The Haunt of Fear Volume 2 comes highly recommended. Coming to a comic shop near you October 28, this 216-page full color hardcover collects The Haunt of Fear #7–#12 and features art from Johnny Craig, Graham Ingels, Jack Davis, Jack Kamen, George Roussos, Ed Smalle, and Joe Orlando. I’ll tease you with a page from the very first tale in the book, a real corker called Room For One More:

I think that rather unbalanced Rodney needs to reconsider his greed for that last space in the family mausoleum before it’s too late, right? As usual, the book compiles the issues in their entirety including all the original ads, text pieces, and letter columns. Nope, you can’t order anything from those well-aged adverts, but reading the letters should get you smiling at how some took these illustrated tales of terror to heart back in the day. Feel free to also check out previous volumes in Dark Horse’s EC Archives for even more variety in classic horror, sci-fi, crime, humor and more stories from the pre-Comics Code days.

READS: Contemporary Krampus Will Put You In The Proper Holiday Spirit (OR ELSE)…

Posted on October 19, 2015 by geelw

Mike Drake (photo: Peter Keehn)

Just in time for Halloween and definitely an excellent Christmas gift that’s actually a reminder to watch your back and be good (or else!), Contemporary Krampus: A Modern Look At An Ancient Legend ($24.00) offers up a collection of professional and fan art that makes for quite a memorable chunk of nightmare fuel. Curated by Mike Drake (who did that stupendous cover above), you’ll get almost 70 striking images from traditional drawing and painting, to sculpture and even a few takes on the ugly Christmas sweater (but you’ll probably want one of the ones in the book).

Drake also contributes a nifty into to Contemporary Krampus and how this Anti-Claus has slowly but surely seeped into American culture over the years to the point that we’ll be seeing a Krampus horror flick hit theaters in time for Christmas. Nicely naughty AND not a low budget schlocker judging by the cast.

You should run out and buy this book just because it’ll make you grin and cringe simultaneously. But if you’ve read this far, live in one of the 50 states of the U.S. of A. (Yes, you need to have a US shipping address!) and want to WIN a copy of the book, just respond below with I WANT KRAMPUS! and I’ll pick ONE lucky winner tomorrow from those who’ve entered.

Want more fun? Well, if you’re a card-carrying adult and just so happen to be in the New York City area for Halloween, you should attend the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Times Square Halloween Party.

This adults only event will feature not only Drake signing copies of Contemporary Krampus, but also giving away a life-size Krampus (!) to one lucky attendee. Additionally, over 45 “special” exhibits will be pulled from the Ripley vaults and displayed exclusively to those brave enough to attend. The event will also feature:

A twisted game show
Psychic readings
Hypnotism shows with audience participation
Close-up magic
Day of the Dead candy celebration (at midnight)

To purchase tickets for this exclusive event (and they’re selling out quickly!), fans of the macabre need just click HERE (Boooo!)

Having A Steam Link Means Never Having To Say You’re Sorry

Posted on October 17, 2015 by geelw

Trapped for a weekend in a creepy mansion that just so happens to NOT be haunted by anything but stale air but has a rockin’ broadband connection, a TV in every room and you just so happened to bring along your gaming laptop? Or perhaps you’re at home and would like to stretch your gameplay options to other rooms without getting a hernia moving your PC around. Well, the fine folks at Valve have gone and cooked up what’s basically a plug and play router for their Steam digital delivery service called Steam Link.

Headed your way in November, a mere $49.99 gets you instant access to your Steam library and 1080p streaming at 60 frames per second in Big Picture mode on any HDTV (but I’d gather it won’t make old or newer games that run under frame rate that move any faster). Naturally, the more powerful a computer and stronger the connection you have, the better time you’ll have. Valve has certainly been a bunch of busy little bees over the past few years and it’s clear that they want to get Steam even more popular with the masses than it’s become among the mainly gamer crowd that makes the most of it’s assorted services.

BUY IT! MVD Entertainment Has Reptiles and Ants For Sale

Posted on October 15, 2015 by geelw

Oh yep. I’ve since forgotten who introduced me to Amphetamine Reptile Records way back in the day, but it was a fine and more than a little insane musical journey that was great while it lasted. MVD Entertainment Group is getting me (and some of you) to relive those glory days of noise rock with what’s going to be one of the best documentaries on the subject, Eric Robel’s The Color of Noise in a Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack. This trailer gives you a little taste of what to expect when the doc appears on home video November 24 and even better, MVD and AmRep will also re-issue some of the best releases from the label’s catalog on vinyl and CD starting in December 2015 and continuing into 2016 and beyond. Continue reading →