Starring Kate Beckinsale, Stephen Rea, Michael Ealy, Theo James, India Eisley, Charles Dance
Directed by Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein

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After giving fans a Kate Beckinsale-less prequel with 2009's Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, Selene is back and better than ever for Underworld: Awakening, which has the Death Dealer fighting against both Lycans and a powerful corporation named Antigen whose primary focus is eradicating the world of the non-human "plague" by creating a cure for the otherworldly creatures.
At the start of the flick, we find out that once the humans discovered vampires and werewolves living amongst them, a "purge" was ordered, and both species were driven to the brink of extinction. During the genocide Selene was captured by Antigen and held in a cryogenic tank for 12 years while the company experimented on the unsuspecting vampire warrior.
Of course, if Selene stayed frozen, we wouldn't have a fourth movie so she makes it out of Antigen (with her trademark skintight suit intact) and is introduced to a shocking new world where she no longer has only werewolves to contend with but the human race as well. There are a few more shocks and surprises in store for Selene as the story continues in Awakening, but as someone who's a firm believer in not posting review spoilers, all I will say is that fans of the franchise will be happy with what directors Märlind & Stein have cooked up here under the guidance of Underworld co-creator Len Wiseman, who's on board Awakening as both a producer and story writer.
For those of you out there who aren’t really fans of the Underworld franchise, Awakening most likely won't do much to change your mind on the series: It seems like it was made with the fans of the series in mind who have been waiting for Selene's return to the big screen after almost a six-year absence and does a fantastic job of getting back to the original story that drew us in almost 10 years ago.
A lot of detractors have always had issues with the amount of exposition that seems to get jam-packed into the Underworld movies, which is a fair assessment. But as a fan, I've always enjoyed the rich history that Wiseman, Kevin Grevioux and Danny McBride took the time to establish with their story as opposed to a franchise like Resident Evil (a series Underworld finds itself compared to a lot) that is purely action-driven; at least the Underworld movies try to give audiences characters they can care about, which is a rarity in the action genre these days.
There's no doubt that Awakening is the film that has finally gotten the Underworld narrative vs. asskicking formula almost down pat- the film does offer up a lot of exposition and story for us, but the film never lags and the action itself this time around feels far more brutal and violent than its predecessors. Clearly, Märlind & Stein were heartily embracing their R rating as they've got a few gore-filled tricks up their sleeves that are wickedly fun to experience in 3D.
The performances in Underworld: Awakening were far better than I was expecting going into the fourth installment; Beckinsale seems like she's finally owning the character of Selene and delivers her most mature work in the series. Selene's never been the deepest of characters, and while she certainly doesn't get all "lovey-dovey" on us for the fourth film, I was surprised by the amount of emotion Beckinsale gave to the role in just a few key scenes, finally giving the talented actress more to do than slaughtering Lycans and acting insolently against her elders.
Of course, fans show up to watch Beckinsale's fight scenes, and what we get in Awakening is hands down some of the best fight choreography work of the entire franchise. Beckinsale herself finally seems more comfortable with her moves, and she's got some pretty huge adversaries to take down in the fourth film, making Selene's fights some truly awesome stuff to behold on the big screen (if you dig that sort of thing).
Michael Ealy, who plays a human cop and unlikely ally of Selene, is one of my favorite guys that pops up a lot in non-genre films these days, and he's got some great chemistry playing off of Beckinsale's cool and calculated Selene. Brilliant character actor Rea plays the main bad guy working behind the scenes at Antigen and adds a level of eloquence to Awakening that had been sort of lacking in previous Underworld entries. I would love to see him return (not a spoiler, folks; Bill Nighy returned to part three after being beheaded so anything's possible; whether Rea lives or dies, you'll have to see for yourself) in future installments as he does a fantastic job with his portrayal of an evil corporate scientist who keeps pushing his research for a cure way too far.
In terms of the look and feel of Underworld: Awakening, of course the color blue is still very much focal color of this franchise, and the color palette looks surprisingly great in 3D. With the Underworld films having such a dark aesthetic to them, that was a big concern for me going into the fourth chapter as to whether or not the 3D would be able to pop as well with a movie that is mostly blue and black hued. The directing duo of Märlind & Stein clearly knew this would be somewhat of an issue and incorporate a lot of scenes that have a somewhat "traditional" and unsaturated look to them, keeping a nice balance of the blue tones we've come to expect and giving fans also a bit of a "new look" for the Underworld franchise.
The 3D itself is pretty great (at least far better than Shark Night 3D, which was the last flick I saw in that format). It plays subtly when needed and also features a few "in your face" moments, too, which is always fun. It has a good blend of both 3D approaches, and if you can swing the extra few bucks, Underworld: Awakening is definitely a lot of fun to enjoy in 3D. For those of you over the 3D gimmick, I'm sure the movie will look great when presented in 2D too.
The digital effects (something I've always found to be a bit distracting about the Underworld films) this time around are far better than what we've experienced previously in the series. While I would have loved to see more practical effects being used in Awakening, practical werewolves are just not going to happen in an Underworld movie, and as a fan, you either come to terms with it or you don't. As someone who has come to terms with it, the beasties this time around look far less cartoonish, and one creature in particular (no spoilers!) is quite the fearsome sight to behold.
As a fan of the franchise, Underworld: Awakening feels like the movie I've been waiting for ever since the first one was released in 2003. Beckinsale has never been better, the story and action finally blends together a bit more smoothly, and incorporating humans into the Vampire/Lycan war breathes a new life into the series. Awakening won't do much for the detractors, but for fans- this is the Underworld sequel we've all been patiently waiting to see for almost six years now, and hopefully Screen Gems won't keep waiting another half-dozen years for the next chapter in Selene's journey.

The Horror Portfolio - 64 Movies in 5 Minutes

There is something enjoyable about a good mash-up. You take the best parts of a few things and wad them together to make something new and, hopefully, at least as enjoyable as the original works. We've got the ultimate horror mash-up for you in The Horror Portfolio.
Containing bits of 64 horror films which cross the screen in just under five minutes, The Horror Portfolio covers it all. It's got new films, old films, originals and remakes, classics and clunkers. Take five minutes out of your day and get a refresher on a ton of great horror. We've included the full list of films included in the video, but see how many you can identify before you look at the answers. Enjoy!

Films in The Horror Portfolio
Chapter One (Haunted Houses & Ghost Stories)
11-11-11, 1408, The Amityville Horror (2005), The Awakening, Dawn of the Dead, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, The Eye, Fragile, The Haunting (1963), The Haunting in Connecticut, Insidious, Mirrors, The Orphanage, Paranormal Activity 2, Poltergeist, The Shining, Shutter Island, Silent Hill, Triangle, The Uninvited, The Ward, White Noise, The Woman in Black
Chapter Two (Angels & Demons)
Constantine, Devil, Drag Me To Hell, End of Days, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, The Exorcist, Legion, Lost Highway, The Ninth Gate, The Omen, The Prophecy, The Rite, Sleepy Hollow, Stigmata, Suspiria
Chapter Three (Killers & Slashers)
30 Days of Night, A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), The Crazies, Dead Silence, Don't Look Now, Friday the 13th (1980), Friday the 13th (2009), Halloween (1978), Halloween (2007), Hannibal Rising, The Hitcher, Pontypool, Psycho (1960), Red Dragon, Red Eye, The Reeds, The Ring, Saw, Scream 4, Se7en, Shutter Island, Silence of the Lambs, The Strangers, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), When a Stranger Calls (2006), Zodiac
Music:
1. "Opening Titles" - Mark Kilian (from The Ward)
2. "If I Was Your Vampire (Instrumental)" - Marilyn Manson
3. "Hello Zepp" - Charlie Clouser (from Saw)

Wizard of Oz

Jessica Lange Home Takes Home a Golden Globe Award for American Horror Story

Nearly three and a half of the dullest hours of my entire award-watching life just transpired as the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards is history. Sadly, our genre only took home two awards this year, but they were well deserved!
First up - Jessica Lange took home the prize for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: "American Horror Story" and secondly ...
Morgan Freeman took home the Cecil B. DeMille award thanks in part to his stirring portrayal of Count Dracula on "The Electric Company". The wonderful news brought a true tear to our eyes, damnit! About time!
In addition, we have to give a shout-out to Peter Dinklage for his win for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: "Game of Thrones".
Congratulations to all the winners! For the full list visit the official Golden Globes website.
That being said ... time to sing along!

(dreadcentral.com)

Happy Friday the 13th

Jason Voorhees is a household name, there’s no arguing. Everyone may be familiar with the summer camp slasher’s iconic look as far as the hockey mask goes, but it’s a lot harder to find a definitive consensus on Mr. Voorhees’ most successful incarnation. It changes as often as the weather, and much more dramatically, to boot.
So we’re taking another look back at Friday the 13th - this time from the perspective of our main man’s getups from the past thirty years. Like any enduring movie monster, he’s had his ups and downs. Moments we love and others we’d like to forget. From mongoloid Jason to that mongoloid remake, we’ll leave no face unmasked as we travel the bumpy road of my own personal favorite movie villain in the hopes of documenting what worked, and what didn’t. Which movies got it right, and which ones are we ashamed to show our friends?
For better or worse, it’s all here.



Friday the 13th (1980)
Was it real? Alice’s nightmare? We all know that Crystal Lake’s finest never found any boy, and the conception behind this long night at Camp Blood was never intended as set-up for a sequel. Jason was a glorified plot device that was never supposed to be more than the reason for the killings. Regardless, his last-minute jolt left audiences on a high note, quickly becoming one of the original Friday the 13th’s most memorable moments.

And his look is … pretty unnerving. Draped in seaweed and spouting one over-sized cranium complete with drooping facial features, no one ever said anything about Jason being a mongoloid boy! Which begs the question: If the canoe tip was all part of Alice’s dream, how in the hell did she know that Jason was ‘special’? Yes, we assume that’s what Mrs. Voorhees was going to say during her crazed diatribe (”He was … he wasn’t a very good swimmer!”), but it never got that far. Certainly not far enough for Alice to deduce the child’s reduced mental capacity if the canoe jump were, in fact, a figment of her imagination.
Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
Despite what I argued above, it’s no secret that Jason was a nightmare within the context of the original Friday. But with its success it became time to explore the most obvious avenue available: making him real. As such, we’re treated to a real cool type of Jason Begins (at least, it feels this way when looked at in the series’ milieu) scenario in which our slasher is somewhat uncharacteristic (calling Alice, tracking her to her home, etc.) in his vengeance. He’s also prone to accidents (watch out when standing atop old chairs, never know when they’re going to crack!) and some really bad decisions (maybe wait until the cop has driven past, before darting out into the road and inadvertently leading him to your secret lair!) throughout the course of his first actual venture.
It’s understandable that a newcomer to the series might be taken aback by the admittedly odd look of “Sackhead Jason” (lovingly referred to as the Country Bumpkin by an old friend and slasher mentor): the potato sack, the overalls, etc. But nothing is quite as jarring as when the killer’s face is revealed in the post-climax “sting” scare.

Red scraggly hair, fiery scruff, severely rotten teeth and one hell of a gumline: this is the look of a bumpkin whose life has been lived entirely in the solitude of wilderness.
Friday the 13th – Part III (1982)
Picking up exactly where Friday 2 ended, it takes a smarter man than I to figure out what the hell happened here: not only does Jason sprout several inches, but he apparently shaved off his hair – perhaps in an effort to elude the authorities (fooling them into thinking those counselors were killed by that other deformed mongoloid, perhaps?) and decided that his choice overalls were suddenly passé.
It’s why he stops off at the local convenient store, lifting some new pants and a shirt (and why do they fit him? Harold wasn’t exactly his body type) before sulking off to Higgins Haven (just in time to greet a few new arrivals who apparently hadn’t heard about the bloodbath across the lake) where he eventually lands his signature mask. While there was plenty to love about the Country Bumpkin, this is a much more imposing look for Mr. Voorhees. One that’s heightened by the film’s unmasking, which gives us this:

In the grand scheme of Jasons, this is among the creepiest. He’s always grinning - like he’s absolutely delighted to be terrorizing our already mentally fragile heroine – and there’s real glee in his eye when he kills. Jason was angrier elsewhere, perhaps scarier elsewhere as well, but there has never been another performance as evil as this! Kudos to Richard Brooker for pulling it off and leaving a lasting mark.
Friday the 13th – The Final Chapter (1984)
After the drastic disregard in continuity between parts 2 and 3, it was nice that Joe Zito’s The Final Chapter could be bothered to maintain stricter continuity with the previous film. In fact Tom Savini’s work on Friday 4 ranks among his best, with a truly frightening Jason design that took everything that came before and ramped it up.
Before talking about the face, let’s look at the mask: battered, bruised, damaged, awesome. The center red chevron is fading, the bloodied axe wound from part 3 looks messy and painful. Best of all? Those thick, long and nasty fingernails. No wonder he’s able to rip Peter Barton’s face off with relative ease … his nails are so disgusting that Coffin Joe might even be appalled. And that’s nothing when compared to the series’ greatest unmasking sequence:

It’s the stuff of nightmares. Warped flesh, nasty teeth (complete with a fang or two, unpictured), and another sardonic grin that tells us more about the character than all of the scripts combined. Jason’s a man on a mission. He loves killing and won’t be stopped. And that makes him absolutely terrifying.
Friday the 13th Part V – A New Beginning (1985)
Of course, anyone who knows the series know that Jason was stopped – albeit briefly – for this stellar and underrated entry in the franchise (that’s right) that witnesses an impostor behind the mask.
Considering it was a grief-stricken (and deadbeat) dad behind the blue chevrons, it makes sense that “Jason” equipped himself with a completely different look. Taking a page from the handbook of Michael Myers, our slasher dons a nifty blue jumpsuit and goes through the trouble of encasing his head in a faux bald mask – simply in the hope of confusing his victims (and audience) into believing that the genuine article was butchering the lingering residents of Crystal Lake.
Of course, the “surprise” twist is a bit of a letdown for the purposes of this article:

It’s just a regular dude. Roy Burns. I still want to know where he got that bald mask, and why he bothered if he was planning on killing every single person at Pinehurst. Of course, the ultimate irony being that if Roy had just manned up and been a father to Joey (the poor fat kid whose unlikely murder is ground zero for the killings), this whole tragedy could’ve been avoided. But then we wouldn’t have had A New Beginning, and I would not have been okay with that.
Friday the 13th, Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
For some reason fans were “upset” that Friday 5 featured a fake Jason, as if the presence of an exact copycat that looks the same, and even exceeded the real deal’s body count record, wasn’t good enough for them. Regardless, Jason was jolted back to life for the sixth (and, for my money, best) installment in the franchise.
“Zombie” Jason has been a bone of contention with some of the old school purists (those who caught every single one of these in the theaters since 1980), although I can’t find much reason to contest the direction the series was taking at this point. Our resident slasher was chopped to pieces at the end of The Final Chapter so it was either resurrect him this way or disregard the events of the last two flicks. Personally, I’m glad this was the route they chose.
This incarnation may be overlooked by the spectacular make-up showcase of the next movie, but I personally find this Jason to be the coolest of all the “undead” versions. Credit director Tom McLoughlin for outfitting the entire flick with an atmospheric Hammer-esque vibe (especially that opening) – which is exactly why this Jason is a lumbering Frankenstein-ish creation, complete with cobwebs and the surge of lightning that brought him back:

As for the brief “unmasking” (occurring at the very beginning for a change), it’s pretty standard rotting corpse stuff. But on the whole, this Jason is dripping with classic monster nostalgia. The perfect complement to the rollercoaster that is Jason Lives.
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
The natural progression from Jason’s watery grave. John Buechler’s ghastly creation is perfection: the exposed spine and rib cage, the busted chain dangling around his neck and this face:

Not much else to say about this one. Brilliant FX work.
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
And after two innovative designs that took Mr. Voorhees from a pissed off mongoloid to an undead monster, laziness finally set in. This takes Buechler’s work and turns it into a grade-z variation. From the sludge-lathered clothing that conveniently looks to obscure detail (or lack thereof) to this monstrosity of an unmasking:

What else needs to be said? With part VIII Jason was reduced to looking like a Madball (specifically, that mummy that everyone growing up in the 80s seemed to have). His face is so soft and mushy that the filmmakers might’ve just slapped a hockey mask on a burnt and wilted marshmallow for as good as this looks.
I’ve always had a soft spot for the sheer ridiculousness of Jason Takes Manhattan, from disappearing passengers on a massive cruise ship to New York City sewers flooding with toxic waste every night at midnight, but the one thing that’s impossible to overlook is the shoddy make-up efforts. If there was a constant in these films, it should’ve been Jason’s look. He is, after all, the reason people showed up to see these films. Why’d he get such a raw deal, Paramount?
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
The raw deal didn’t get any less raw in this, the first of three New Line Cinema “Jason” productions. But at least they didn’t skip on his look again, giving us an even more brazen design consisting of a faded silver hockey mask melting into his head.

Fan speculation wonders if it wasn’t Jason’s exposure to New York’s river of toxic sludge that caused him to mutate. It’s a worthy supposition although it’s more likely they just didn’t want to touch that film’s ending with a ten-foot pole, deciding instead to change up the character’s appearance for what was originally going to be his final sendoff.
I like this look as a monster design even if it seems too outré for the young boy who drowned at camp all those years ago.
Jason X (2002)
This is a pretty “standard” look for the masked one. More subdued than JGTH and boasting more of a direct resemblance to Kane Hodder than ever before (complete with his hair, at least in the prologue). He looks great when masked. Unfortunately this is briefly glimpsed:

Of course, it’s really the Sideshow Collectibles sculpt here that makes this stand out as terrible (but look what they were working with!). And this design is notable for a few disappointing reasons: where’s the previous battle damage? No axe wound, no bullet hole (and that was one movie ago!) and, worst of all, why is his goddamn left eye back? It was destroyed at the end of The Final Chapter. Lazy, folks. Just lazy.
Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
And then there’s this movie. Which seems to have been made by Freddy people without any regard for Friday the 13th fans. Jason lumbers around without any sense of menace, most of the kills are unimaginable and then there’s this:

Since we don’t actually see his face this time (just his mouth), it’s hard to tell exactly what he looked like. But again, the battle damage is absent from the mask (and Jason sports two eyes beneath that mask – gah!), and somebody explain to me when Jason decided to put a jacket on over his shirt? Do zombies get cold?
Friday the 13th (2008)
Sure, this is a “remake”, but it plays a lot like a sequel. And for everything that’s wrong with it (I hated this film), Jason looks pretty decent when he’s wearing that mask. Sadly, the brain trust at Platinum Dunes failed to deliver fans a proper unmasking sequence (odd, considering they claimed to “really study” the first four films before making this). But this is floating around out there:

Kind of a decent updating of his look from way back in part 2. The gimp eye, malformed skull, straggly hair and disgusting teeth all gel in a way that makes me wish the filmmakers had put some effort into making the movie any good. A damn shame
Twelve movies. Twelve looks. Some great, most good, some terrible. Which are you favorites, and why?

(dreadcentral.com)

New Images from Blind Alley

It's been a while since we last heard about Blind Alley (aka Callejón), but a couple of new stills have landed online for Antonio Trashorras' terror tale, and as always we're right here to scoop 'em up and bring them to ya! Feel free to leave a tip in the tip jar, thanks!
Blind Alley stars Ana de Armas, Diego Cadavid, and Leonor Varela.
Synopsis
In a tiny laundrette hidden down an alleyway, Rosa finds herself trapped, completely isolated and unable to escape the nightmarish situation of being attacked by a serial killer. At the break of dawn and after hours of anguish, immersed in the sadistic game of rat and mouse the killer has subjected her to, the young girl will discover something even more disturbing about the nature of her aggressor.

The Grey (2012)

Survivalist tales that have made their way onto film and into the multiplex over the years tend to have more emotional resonance than your typical genre fare. Whether they are based on fact or purely fiction, these stories tap into the primal drive in all of us to simply stay alive no matter what the cost. Watching characters onscreen bond together during the most dire of situations forces us as viewers to imagine what we would do, how we would react, and what we are ultimately capable of in the wake of a tragic accident that suddenly hurls us into the grasp of an ungovernable wilderness that doesn’t care if we live or die.
Joe Carnahan’s The Grey is the newest addition to the survivalist sub-genre, sitting alongside coming-of-age films like White Water Summer while also showing a kinship with horror entries such as The Final Terror and Ravenous. The Grey also never gives in to melodrama, staying grounded in the realism of Frank Marshall’s depiction of cannibalism in the ‘90s classic Alive. But the film that probably shares the most in common with Liam Neeson’s latest entry in badassdom would have to be Lee Tamahori’s The Edge, the David Mamet-penned thriller wherein Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin are hunted relentlessly by a Kodiac Grizzly.
The setup is usually the same: a harrowing and intense plane crash, a group dynamic slowly begins to form and then break apart due to constant peril and fear, a brave leader emerges and rescues the surviving few. Applause. In The Grey when the plane does begin to go down, it’s done with interior shots only and focuses mainly on Neeson’s character, Ottway. There are no epic effects shots of the plane’s wings being ripped off after crashing into a rocky mountainside, and on a subconscious level the somewhat intimate depiction of the wreck foreshadows future moments in the film that are much more personal and self-reflective in nature. These moments focus on the internal thoughts of Ottway surrounding his wife, moments that serve as poetic reminders of what his character is fighting for and, more importantly, how lost he is as an individual. Except for one brief sequence we only see imagery from Ottway’s past and perspective, but a number of characters get to reflect on their lives also, allowing them to tap into the good in them and find the will to go on.
Frank Grillo plays an ex-con working on the cursed oil rig these men are returning from as the film begins, and his character, Diaz, is the clear standout next to Neeson’s melancholy Ottway. Diaz transforms from being a scared anonymous punk into a respected member of the group as the film progresses. It is a star turn for Grillo, and viewers should expect to see him in many more memorable roles for years to come. Dermot Mulroney has some great moments throughout the film with Dallas Roberts and Joe Anderson also turning in great performances.
As you might have guessed by now, The Grey is much more intelligent than your typical thriller - and it’s a more effective film because of it. One of the main themes even deals with the idea of God versus the individual and how faith, or the lack thereof, is an asset or a disadvantage when you’re fighting to survive the elements and keep a fierce pack of rabid wolves from tearing you apart. In these circumstances is self-reliance hindered by faith? Will you fight as hard as you need to if you believe in a higher power that may intervene to save you? Looking at who dies and who survives, Carnahan and his co-screenwriter Ian MacKenzie Jeffers do well to answer that question as well as using it as the basis for Neeson’s most powerful moment in the film - a moment that is probably the essential scene in The Grey.
So, is it a thinking man’s monster movie? Carnahan himself says The Grey touches on the outskirts of horror, and the moments and sequences involving the wolves are certainly crafted with that in mind. Carnahan wants to scare you in these scenes, and the staging, direction, and design of the wolves by KNB (who else?) prove to be very effective. Seeing how KNB usually gets all the credit when they are involved on a film, it should be mentioned that the majority of the wolves are enhanced through CGI by the guys over at Digital Dimension; and they do great work here. The wolves look larger than life, and their wild eyes and mangled fur do well to show that this pack has never been touched by the throes of civilization, making our human characters that much more threatening and foreign to them. The pitch black design of the Alpha male wolf is the closest thing to an actual monster in The Grey, and the standoff between Ottway and the beast throughout the film culminates in a satisfying way, but probably not how you expect if you’ve seen the trailers.
The ending of The Grey reaffirms the point that it is not the typical survival movie: The sum of its parts and its emotional resonance is greater and more profound than a simple man versus nature tale. The result is a film that subverts expectations, becoming a great character piece that isn’t afraid to show real pain and internal agony below the surface of an action film. The Grey still provides some genuine thrills and scares, but it’s ultimately about how a harrowing situation can rekindle the desire and lust for life within a once broken man who was just about ready to throw in the towel.
Oh ... be sure to stay after the credits for an extra scene!