Happy Halloween!

Take the kids trick or treating; dress up & party; watch some scary movies; curl up with a good and creepy book; or stand at the end of someone's driveway in a mask and black cloak, staring at them until they scream...

Just enjoy the creepiest day of the year!

The Trick 'r Treat: Days of the Dead Graphic Novel is Out Today!

"From the twisted imagination of Trick ‘r Treat creator Michael Dougherty (director of the upcoming Krampus and Trick ‘r Treat 2 and screenwriter of X-Men 2 and Superman Returns) alongside a top-notch team of creators including writers Todd Casey and Zach Shields (Krampus), Marc Andreyko (Batwoman) and artists Fiona Staples (Saga), Stephen Byrne (Buffy/Angel), Stuart Sayger (Bram Stoker’s Death Ship) and Zid (Son of Merlin) comes this 4-part collection that paves the way for the Trick ‘r Treat film sequel.

Days of the Dead takes readers on a journey through Halloween history with 4 chilling new Trick ‘r Treat tales. Discover old-world lovers whose romance takes a chilling turn and Western pioneers who discover the dark side of the frontier. Travel to 1950s Los Angeles for a tale of pure horror noir and into the heart of small-town America to see some pranksters taught a lesson they'll never forget.

Across centuries of Halloween horror, wherever fear lies, Sam will be waiting…"

As much as we loved Trick 'r Treat, and as much as we're looking forward to Krampus, any Graphic Novel by the creators of both movies is going to land on our reading list.

Will the 4 stories in this collection truly pave the way for Trick 'r Treat 2, and if so, how?

Whatever the answer to those questions are, we're totally up for the light, fun Halloween read that Days of the Dead promises.

What's New On VOD This Week? (10/27-10/30)

We're going to be switching up the format of our weekly VOD post through the end of October; with the sheer volume of titles hitting VOD between now and Halloween, we need to condense things a bit, or else risk having some crazy long posts.

You can still rent the movies or watch their trailers by clicking the posters below, so really, same thing, just a different format.

The Halloween Season might be all but over with, but we still have one Friday's worth of VOD releases to help us send the best month of the year out with a bang!

A haunted hand; a creepy gift-giving stalker; one of the world movies of 2015; a fun spy flick; and a Sci-Fi version of Freaky Friday... what an oddly uneven week it is for VOD releases.

• The Gift is the one VOD release above all others that you should be looking out for this weekend. It's a smart, intense Thriller that gave us something completely different than we were expecting. Our review is coming soon, but for now just know that if you're in the mood for an Adult Thriller (maturity-wise, not sexy-wise), then this one will absolutely satisfy you. 
• Bloody Knuckles looks like a crazy fun movie, and with the advance reviews that it's garnered, we'll be sure not to miss it now that it's widely available. 
• Even as a morbid curiosity, The Human Centipede 3 is a total mess. Save your money for something else. Read our review HERE. 
• As for the week's Non-Horror releases: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was a fun spy flick, and Self/Less looks like another Ryan Reynolds flop. Proceed with caution.

The 31 Days of Horror #2: Session 9 (2001)

Title: Session 9
Year: 2001.
Sub-Genre: Haunted House, Psychological, Supernatural.

Session 9 is hands-down one of the creepiest movies ever made.

It's not much on blood or kills, and there aren't any jump-scares to be had, but nothing tops this Brad Anderson film for creepy atmosphere; between the eerily unsettling "Session" tapes that we hear playing throughout, to the music, to the isolation of the asylum itself, this is the kind of movie that will unsettle you enough to make you get up and turn on all of the lights on in your house.

I especially like the ending; was the voice on the tapes just a disturbed patient, or something more sinister that drives people to murder? I think it's a little Demonic if you ask me, but then again, I have a vivid imagination. Either way, it will make you look at it differently when you watch it a second time.

"I live in the weak and the wounded, Doc."

Chilling as hell.

If you haven't seen this movie, do so now; alone, in the dark, and preferably at around midnight.

See you tomorrow with #1!

Import Review: Marshland (2015)

How to write this one up and do it the justice that it deserves...How about: "Marshland is what True Detective Season 2 should have been." That sounds like a pretty good start.

Marshland is a dark Buddy Cop movie that is reminiscent of other Crime Thrillers like Se7en, Zodiac, Memories of Murder, or The Silence, even though it's a different beast in many ways.

And it does feel like it would have made an excellent entry into the world of HBO's True Detective that would have been on par with the perfect 1st Season, in every single way.

It's 1980, five years after the death of fascist dictator Francisco Franco, and Spain is still celebrating. When two girls go missing during the small town of Guadalquivir Marshes' annual fair, two detectives from Madrid are called in to investigate. Pedro is a left-wing do-gooder, honest Cop who does things by the book; and Juan is an old school throwback to the corrupt Franco era, who does things his way, which usually involves something shady. Needless to say, the two don't really get along that well.

"YEAH, WELL FUCK YOU TOO, CABRON!"

As they investigate the case of the missing girls though, they put their differences aside in an effort to find out who is behind their disappearances. When the girls are found dead, the detectives begin to uncover all kinds of seedy, perverse things about the small town, including, but not limited to: the murder, rape, pimping, and sexual slavery of young girls, all of which goes back years.

SHE DIDN'T DESERVE THAT.

The local Police, still corrupt as hell, not only refuse to help the detectives with their case, but even try to hinder the investigation in an effort to protect some of the more affluent scumbags of the community. Juan is all for breaking people's heads open to find answers though, and it's not long before straight-arrow Pedro comes around to his way of thinking.

The intense hunt for a Serial Killer ensues.

LIKE YOUR HANDS ARE GOING TO STOP BULLETS?

Give us a movie about Cops on the trail of a Serial Killer, and we'll be happy campers. Give us one as fantastic as Marshland, and we'll be ecstatic. It's a bit unnatural how much we love these types of movies.

Much like other classic modern day Thrillers like Memories of Murder or The Silence, this Spanish gem came out of nowhere and took us by complete surprise. From the very start we knew we were in for something special, at least from a visual standpoint; the movie opens with some breathtaking overhead shots of the Spanish countryside that set a special mood for everything else to come. The biggest star of this movie may be its cinematography, which was flawless.

I guess it helps when a movie with such a disturbing plot looks like a piece of moving art.

"SHOOT THE RAIN! IT'S THE ONLY WAY!"

The post-Franco era in Spain made for an interesting setting for this movie. Almost overnight, Spain went from fascism to democracy, and in the context of this movie, it's interesting to see how the authorities were still inclined to keep certain rich and important people safe from persecution, even when they may be responsible for young girls being pimped out and murdered.

*I'm no expert on Spanish government or Francisco Franco, but that's how it all looked to me while watching this movie.

ALL SHE EVER WANTED TO DO WAS ESCAPE HER POOR LITTLE VILLAGE...

As compelling as the story itself was, it's the acting in this one that took everything in this one to a higher level. With Marshland being a Spanish film, we weren't very familiar with the work of its two leads, Raúl Arévalo and Javier Gutiérrez. They were both excellent in their roles, with Gutiérrez's tough guy being the standout. As different as these characters were, they made for a perfect team, and we could have honestly watched another hour of them running around and solving mysteries together. And beating people up.

I guess we'll just have to settle for seeking out some of their other films, and enjoying those. 

THIS GUY RIGHT HERE...

Movies like Marshland don't come along all that often, so when they do, we're more than happy to sing their praises. Beautifully-shot, superbly-acted, and a story that kept us on the edge of our seats, it's hard not to call this movie perfect.

If this is what Spanish Cinema has to offer, then we want more.

A

Marshland is available now on Import Blu-ray. *You need a Region-Free Blu-ray player to watch this movie.

Here are some screenshots of the stunning overhead shots from the movie, which truly left us in awe. They truly do need to be seen in a larger scope to truly appreciate their beauty, but here they are anyhow.