HELLBOY: HOUSE OF THE LIVING DEAD - A HARDCOVER GRAPHIC NOVEL

In May of 2010, Mike Mignola and Richard Corben were the writer and artist on a one-shot 32-pager Hellboy in Mexico, which I reviewed in my Hellboy in Mexico post.

Hellboy: House of the Living Dead, is a direct sequel to that one-shot, in a hardcover graphic novel format that clocks in at a whopping 56 pages! Mignola admits in his forward to the graphic novel that it was written as a love letter to the Universal horror movies of the 40’s: House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula. The story begins with Hellboy drinking in a bar, devastated over the loss of his luchador comrade to vampires. Hellboy is soon coerced into participating in an ultimate wrestling match with a massive Frankenstein-like monster! That is only the beginning of this madcap story of Hellboy’s fight and eventual confrontation with vampires, a mummy and a werewolf! Mignola’s writing is terse and intense as always and Corben’s artwork is perfectly suited to the wild visual needs of the many fantastic creatures and settings of this graphic novel. If I have any complaints with this graphic novel is the steep price of $14.99. Even at 56 pages, it is still a fairly quick read – even for someone like me, who likes to linger over fantastic art. I did not purchase this at my comic shop (where I buy all my Hellboy comics), because of the price; but instead asked for it as a Christmas present. It was a wonderful gift and I have no doubts that I’ll be reading this again – along with its prequel – in the near future!

ComicBookResources.com did an interview with Mignola about Hellboy: House of the Living Dead several months before its publication. Here are a few brief exerts:

CBR: What made you want to return to this time in HB's life?

MIGNOLA: It was so much fun doing the first one! When I did the first one-issue comic, at the end Hellboy mentions that he doesn't remember what happened the rest of the time he was in Mexico. That was really going to be it, but then I just thought, the beauty of a chunk of time that he doesn't remember -- either he doesn't remember or he says he doesn't remember because he doesn't want to tell anybody what happened -- that's a great period to tell stories, because you can do the craziest stuff and maybe it really didn't happen, maybe he was so drunk he thought this is what happened. It kind of took on a life of its own.

This story, I made up because I saw how much fun Richard had doing the "Hellboy in Mexico" stuff and I wanted to do a Hellboy in Mexico story, so I made up this story for me -- and then realized it would be so much better drawn by Richard. So I turned it over to him. I've actually plotted a couple more stories that take place in this chunk of time. So it's really that whole lost weekend. Five months in Mexico is going to be a significant chunk of Hellboy stories.

 CBR: So this is the first (or rather, second) of many?

MIGNOLA: I wouldn't say "many," but right now there's a short story I'm going to be doing for "Dark Horse Presents" that takes place in Mexico and then Richard's graphic novel. Then there's talk of at least one, if not two more after that.

CBR: Aside from Hellboy being upset about what's happened to his luchador friend, what's going on in "House of the Living Dead?"

MIGNOLA: As the story starts, he has become a wrestler. There's a beautiful opening sequence of Hellboy in the ring, tossing other Mexican wrestlers around. And then he's hired to fight somebody's champion. And it's the "go out to the crazy guy's old house" [story] and then it's like "House of Dracula" or "House of Frankenstein." For whatever reason, there are a lot of monsters in this one place. It's a parade of crazy stuff. In some places, it's really funny; in other places, it's really disturbing. In a lot of places, it's really spooky, so it does what Richard and I do really well together, which is, stuff where you go "I can't tell if this is supposed to be funny or not." Richard, more than I guess anybody I've ever worked with, you never really know which way he's going to spin stuff. Something I might write as so absurdly ridiculous funny might come across very straight the way he does it, and some stuff I had intended as very sober and sad and serious will end up kind of funny. So you have to write a certain way for Richard, where it's fine if he's plays stuff either way. In some places I'll tell him, "this needs to be really sad," "this needs to be really quiet," but a lot of it, he's so good at what he does and it's so amazing working with him, you don't always know what you're going to get. I like to give him as much room to do what he does as possible.

 I recommend reading the entire interview with Mignola at: ComicBookResources.com

Then go out and beg, borrow or steal – okay, go out and buy a copy and read Hellboy: House of the Living Dead!

TRAILER TUESDAY! GRIMM - ON NBC TV THIS FALL!

Grimm is a new genre show coming this fall to NBC! Here is the official show description on its web site:

Remember the fairy tales your parents used to tell you before bedtime? Well, those weren't stories, they were warnings.

Detective Nick Burkhardt thought he was ready for the grim reality of working homicide in Portland, Oregon. That is, until he started to see things... things he couldn't quite explain. Like a gorgeous woman suddenly transforming into a hideous hag, or an average Joe turning into a vicious troll. Then, after a panicked visit from his only living relative, Nick discovers the truth about his visions: he's not like everyone else, he's a descendant of an elite group of hunters known as "Grimms" who are charged with stopping the proliferation of supernatural creatures in the world. And so begins his new life journey - albeit a reluctant one at first - as he solves crimes with his partner who knows something about Nick has radically changed but can't quite put his finger on it. Along the way, Nick finds himself unexpectedly getting help on some of the more difficult cases from Monroe, a guy who seems normal at first but is soon revealed to be what you might call a "big bad wolf." Literally!

While the Brothers Grimm wrote fairy tales that children have adored for generations, imagine if the villains were real, and Nick was the only one who could stop them.

From executive producers David Greenwalt (Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Jim Kouf (Angel, National Treasure) comes a new world of police work where all cases have a storybook connection... but not always happily ever after.

The reason I am excited by this show, other than the premise with its promise of weekly monsters, is the involvement of David Greenwalt and Jim Kouf. They are the creators, producers and writers of the pilot episode and they were deeply involved in two of my favorite genre shows Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Both men not only produced Angel, but wrote many of the episodes as well.

I have one major complaint about NBC's handling of Grimm. They are airing it on Friday nights at 9 pm, opposite two other established genre shows: Supernatural on CW and Fringe on FOX. I watch both these shows and even with my DVR that can record two programs simultaneously, I'll still have to watch one of these shows on a repeat showing or OnDemand on Comcast. Would it be too much to ask for NBC to air Grimm on a different day or at lest a different time? I'll be watching Grimm "live" and recording the other two shows, at least for the premier on October 21.

Check out the cool extended sneak preview trailer!

MONSTERS – 2010 – A NEW WAVE OF SCIENCE FICTION FILM MAKING!

I had read many good things about this film when it was released last September and then again in December to a very small number of theaters from anyone who was lucky enough to actually see it. Much was made of how small the budget was and how director Garth Edwards virtually made this film on his own. Garth wrote the script, was the cameraman/cinematographer and also created the over 250 visual effects for Monsters, so the success of this intimate science fiction film wrests squarely on his shoulders. Fortunately, Mr. Edwards’ gamble to not only keep total creative control of Monsters to himself, but to shoot this film guerrilla style in Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico and Texas paid off with a film that makes the alien elements of Monsters look almost as real as their terrestrial counterparts.

A simple text crawl sets up the back story at the beginning of Monsters. This story takes place six years after a NASA probe that contained samples of alien life forms from an unspecified area of space, crash lands in Central America and soon begins infecting the local fauna with its alien plant life and other things. The US and Mexican governments cordon off a large area of Mexico by building a wall along both sides of the “Infected Zone” from coast to coast. Monsters’ first scene shows a brief fight between the US Army and the tentacled alien creatures that will feature more prominently later in the film.

The real story begins when we meet an American photographer and journalist who is called by his employer to escort an American tourist back to the States. Andrew discovers that his consignment is the daughter of his employer, who has gone walkabout over anxiety over her impending wedding. Andrew buys he and Samantha passage by train to the coast, where they hope to get a ship to the States and bypass the Infected Zone. They manage to purchase tickets for the boat ride, but Andrew, who gets drunk the night before they ship out, is robbed by a local girl who not only steals the rest of his money, but also both of their passports. As a result, they miss their boat and are forced to pay for an armed escort through the Infected Zone.

Initially, they make it through without too much trouble. When they begin traveling on a small river boat, they are attacked by one of the alien creatures and the craft is destroyed. They make it to shore and are fortunate enough to hitch a ride with a local militia. Unfortunately, they too are attacked by the creatures on the road and the American couple now find themselves traveling alone in the alien infested territory. With only each other for companionship and protection, Sam and Andy grow from strangers to friends to something more.

The film concludes with the young couple finding their way to the relative safety of the United States, but all is not what they had hoped for.

Monsters is an unusual film for its type. Instead of focusing on the drama of the humans surviving the alien creatures and the harsh environment, it concentrates on the relationship of Andrew and Samantha. This is very much a personal drama and not a science fiction drama. Despite this, I found myself drawn to these very real characters and engrossed in their struggle to survive not only their exterior problems, but their internal conflicts as well. I think this would make a good film to introduce a non-genre fan to science fiction, because it feels so much like real world drama that only happens to have an otherworldly antagonist. I also liked the way the film took the time to establish the political structure of the world that these characters inhabit. We not only see the towering wall that separates the Infected Zone from the rest of the world and the soldiers and military fighting the alien creatures, but we also see the everyday lives of the ordinary people whose lives have been altered by living in such close proximity to these alien creatures.

Science fiction film directors who are creating the bombastic and special effects laden movies of late [see: Skyline], would do well to follow the example of Monsters and take the time to develop their characters. That way, when these characters come into contact with the science fictional elements of their film, the viewer will become more involved in the fantastic, as opposed to being detached from and removed from these elements.

Monsters is deserving of any science fiction film fan’s time. Go out of your way to watch it as soon as you can!

MONSTER'S HOLIDAY BY BOBBY "BORIS" PICKETT

This is a fun home video that someone (I whish I could give them credit, but they didn't incluce credits in the video) posted on YouTube of my favorite Horror Holiday tune:

Monster's Holiday by Bobby "Boris" Pickett

15TH ANNUAL SCARE-A-THON! PART 1 - THE BOWERY BOYS MEET THE MONSTERS - 1954

15TH ANNUAL SCARE-A-THON! PART 1 -

THE BOWERY BOYS MEET THE MONSTERS - 1954

Every Halloween, my friends and I get together for a wicked scary horror movie marathon! I started this at my lab back in 1996, dubbing it the Scare-a-thon and we just had our fifteenth consecutive monster movie mash this year! I try to create a theme to each Scare-a-thon and this year’s was Old Skool Scares. I found a bunch of films on Netflix, and some on cable, that were satires or homages of my favorite horror films from the 40’s and 50’s.

The exception to this was the first feature of the day: The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters. This short feature starring the Bowery Boys was released in 1954 and was one of several films that put the boys in scary situations. The Bowery Boys have a long film history, which I won’t bore you with here. At this time, the gang consisted of Leo “Slip” Gorcey, Huntz “Sach” Hall, David “Chuck” Condon and Bennie “Butch” Bartlett. If you’ve seen one of these slapstick-filled classic style comedies, you’ve seen them all. Much like the Three Stooges, your enjoyment of these old gags is dependent on your like or dislike of the performers. The two stars of the Bowery Boys are Slip Mahoney and Sach Jones. Slip is the tough leader of the boys and his main characteristic is to use complex words incorrectly. Sach is the gentle idiot, who is the focus of most of the trouble that the “boys” get into.

In The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters, the story begins in Louie's Sweet Shop. After numerous baseballs smash Louie’s storefront windows, the Bowery Boys decide that a nearby vacant lot would be a better location for the kids to play ball, because it would be out of range of Louie’s Shop. Slip and Sach visit the owners of the lot at their home, hoping to convince them to allow the kids to use it. Unfortunately, the Gravesons are completely insane. Of course, the boys arrive in a torrential rain storm and Dereck and Anton Graveson invite them to stay the night. Both brothers are mad scientist:. Dereck wants Slip’s brain for his gorilla and Anton wants Sach’s brain for his robot. Their sister Amelia wants to feed one of them to her carnivorous tree and their niece Francine, who looks like an elderly Vampira, wants to drink their blood. When the boys don’t return from the Graveson’s home, Louie, Butch, and Chuck go there to search for Slip and Sach. However, it's not too long before they too get involved in the Graveson’s nefarious plans.

Even at sixty-five minutes, The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters is a little long. My favorite gag is one that the Three Stooges used in several of their comedy shorts. Slip and Sach are locked in a closet, while the mad scientist brothers make preparations for Slip’s operation to transplant his brain into a gorilla. Looking to escape, Sach uses some tools he conveniently finds in the closet to chisel a hole in the wall. Of course, the wall is the back of the gorilla’s cage and mayhem ensues. If you are looking for a few gentle laughs, and have tired of watching Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein, you could do worse than The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters.

I couldn't find a trailer for The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters, but here is a trailer from one of their earlier scary comedies: 1946's Spook Busters.

That was just the beginning of our film fun. Watch out of for the 15th Annual Scare-A-Thon! Part 2 for my review of our second fright flick: Dark and Stormy Night.

FREAKY FRIDAY! MONSTER NETWORK TV - PUPPET MONSTERS POP!

FREAKY FRIDAY! MONSTER NETWORK TV - PUPPET MONSTERS POP!

It was a slow Friday night. Most of my zombie homeboys were safely hiding in their graves, because it was that rare time of the year when Zombzany - my Necromancer neighbor and zombie slaver, for those who haven't been paying attention - released his ghouls from their magical chains to allow them to run free and.... feed. I was in lock down mode in my lab and was cruising the Internet looking for some wicked good monster fun. I stumbled on  the website http://www.monstertvnetwork.com. Every week, the monsters of Monster TV Network broadcast a new show on their website dedicated to all things we horror, and monster fans in particular, love. Their very first broadcast on March 22, 2010 featured news on the newly released Aurora Monster models DVD and Maskfest 2010  last March read by Uncle Henry at the news desk. The next feature was hosted by the bats Fritz (cool name) and Frak  talking about the 12 inch Night of the Living Dead figures released by ExecutiveReplicas.com. The next feature took place in The Witch's Dungeon and Zenobia the witch looked into her crystal ball for an interview with horror special makeup effects wizard Tom Savini. Other characters on the show in charge of "production" are Boris, Mummy, Claw and Igor. All this is produced by Bill Diamond with great video production and effects work. Monsters Network is like the old Muppets Show; only with monsters and horror themed guests. Try it some lonely Friday night when you're hiding out from hungry flesh eating ghouls... or maybe when you're just hanging out and looking for a few monstrous laughs.

FREAK'S RETRO REVIEW - HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY

HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY
2008 – Horror-Fantasy
Director: Guillermo del Torro
Starring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, John Hurt
Rated PG-13: some violence and language

This film follows the events of Hellboy (2004) just a few months later. The film opens with an animated sequence that tells the story of an ancient truce between Mankind and the elder races that is about to be broken. Prince Nuada is collecting the three pieces of the crown that controls the Golden Army – ancient robotic solders that are virtually indestructible. The holder of the last piece is his twin sister, Princess Nuada, but before Prince Nuada can take it from her, she finds the protection of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. While this is going on, Hellboy is now sharing his quarters with Liz Sherman, but there is much turmoil between them. Hellboy vents his frustration through his work, which this time is stopping a giant plantlike creature from destroying much of downtown Manhattan. After his victory, Hellboy poses for photos and press interviews, much to the chagrin of his boss, Tom Manning, who, after the death of Hellboy’s father figure Professor Bruttenholm, has the difficult task of both heading the B.P.R.D and hiding the secret of Hellboy’s existence from the world. Meanwhile, while being hidden in the underground labyrinth of B.P.R.D. headquarters, Abe Sapien, the increasingly lonely aquatic empath, forms a friendship with the princess, which he is reluctant to share with anyone. Due to Hellboy’s continued disregard for authority, the U.S. Government sends a new agent to lead Hellboy and his agents. Johan Krauss is an ectoplasmic man, who wears a suit to contain his essence. He tries to bring structure to the search for the hidden Golden Army – which includes a trip to the Troll Market that is concealed beneath New York City – but eventually succumbs to Hellboy’s brutish, but effective style of investigation. Hellboy and his eclectic comrades soon catch up to Prince Nuada and a battle for the fate of all mankind commences!

Like the first film, 2004’s Hellboy, this second version of Mike Mignola’s comic book creation, as envisioned by director Guillermo del Torro, takes many liberties with the original characters. In the first film, these liberties were mainly used to establish the Hellboy mythology (Agent Moss as Hellboy’s “new” babysitter) and as a shortcut to humanizing Hellboy (the romantic relationship between Liz Sherman and Hellboy). In this new film, Del Torro seems to be more interested in the relationships (especially romantically) than in driving the somewhat complex plot along. The need to locate the Golden Army and keep the villain from securing the final piece of the crown, seems almost secondary to Hellboy’s need for social acceptance amongst humanity and his continual struggle to understand the problematical emotions of his girlfriend Liz. The need for a balance between character and plot is never more obvious than when Hellboy and Liz are fighting in one scene and then immediately fighting side-by-side in the streets of New York. For this freaky fantasy film fan, Hellboy: The Golden Army almost “jumps the shark” in the scene where Hellboy and Abe Sapien get drunk (Abe has fallen in love with the elf princess) and sing along to Barry Manilow’s “I Can’t Smile Without You”. Anyone who reads the Hellboy comics (like me) head was exploding during this scene! The film has so many new and interesting characters, that the defense of humanity against the onset of the Golden Army almost seems to get lost in the appearance of these mainly monstrous curiosities. When Hellboy is actually fighting these creatures, the film roars along at a break-neck pace! There are enough of these physical confrontations to keep the film from becoming too bogged down, but I wish that more time was spent on the battle between Hellboy and Prince Nuada, and a little less on the battle of the sexes. The visual aspect of Hellboy II: The Golden Army is so fantastic, that it is a shame we couldn't have focused more on these fantastic settings and the creatures that inhabit them, than on the angst of Hellboy’s relationship with Liz and the rest of humanity. Ultimately, it is the performances of the main actors that carry the film’s weaker emotional moments. When Del Torro’s finally commits to bringing both the character driven and plot-driven storylines to a more-or-less satisfying conclusion, we are rewarded with a more Hellboy-like finish. I am looking forward to the last Guillermo del Toro Hellboy film (in the distant future, as he is currently at work on a two-part Hobbit film), but I do hope he keeps his character's emotional neuroses sub-plots to a minimum.

SCARY MONSTERS MAGAZINE

BY FRITZ "DOC" FREAKENSTEIN

THE TOP TEN REASONS WHY THIS TERRIFIC TOMB SHOULD BE IN EVERY GHOUL’S AND BOGEY’S LIBRARY!

10: The frightfully fantastic full-color covers by Terry Beatty!

9: Monster Memories articles written by fans detailing their past glories with all things creepy!

8: Dave “Dr. Swave” Piper’s comics starring Dr. Swave, Sir Geoff Gassy, and Nurse Ghoulfriend!

7: The Scare-News by Dr. Johnny Scareshock that brings us up to date on all things scary!

6: Entire issues dedicated to classic horror films like The Blob, The Creature from the Black Lagoon and many others!

5: In depth articles on classic horror film stars like Karloff, Lugosi and Chaney!

4: Classy tributes to recently departed horror greats like Forrest J. Ackerman!

3: Scarrific back-page advertisements for hard to find monster magazines, books, DVDs and models!

2: Articles about legendary horror hosts of the past like Zacherley, The Ghoul, Vampira and many others!

1: The only magazine with interviews and articles on current horror hosts such as Svengoolie, Dr. Gangrene, and Count Gore De Vol that keep the spirit of horror hosting alive!

I want to personally thank publisher and editor-in-chief Dennis Druktenis for producing Scary Monsters Magazine four times a year, every year, since 1992! I have every issue safely shelved in my laboratory library – from issue 15 to the current issue 73! Check out the Scary Monsters web site at

www.scarymonstersmag.com, or write directly to Dennis for subscription information at Dennis Druktenis Publishing, 348 Jocelyn Pl., Highwood, IL 60040 and tell him Fritz Freakenstein sent ya!