VAULTCAST: Conversations in the Dark... w/BC

It's a thrill this week to be joined by the one and only BC of Horror-Movie-a-Day and Bloody-Disgusting, one of my true blogging inspirations. He had an opportunity to attend Comic Con last weekend, and now that the geek explosion has come and gone, I figured I'd have him on to talk about all the stuff that went down in San Diego. While I had his attention, we also went off on random tangents about M. Night Shyamalan's downward spiral, and our cautious expectations for Matt Reeves' Let Me In.

So take a listen to the embedded player below if you dare, or head on over to the new Vaultcast home page, where you can download this installment directly...


Horror-Movie-a-Day: http://horrormovieaday.com
Bloody Disgusting: http://bloody-disgusting.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BrianWCollins

VAULTCAST: Conversations in the Dark... w/Maweanne

I bet you've been laying up nights, just wondering when Conversations in the Dark would return... Well the answer is, right now! That's right, the Vaultcast returns just in time for the San Diego Comic-Con. As my guest this week I have someone who will actually be going to the event (unlike me)--and that's Maweanne (a.k.a. Maryanne Schultz) of The Spooky Brew.

Tonight we chat up this week's epic West Coast geekfest, as well as Maryanne's experiences as an honest-to-goodness horror movie makeup artist. Listen in on the embedded player below, or pay a visit to the new Vaultcast homepage, where you can also download it...


The Spooky Brew: http://spookybrew.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/maweanne

CONFIRMED: Depp Will Star in Burton's Dark Shadows

After months of speculation, it was reported in several places earlier today, most notably Yahoo! Movies, that Tim Burton and Johnny Depp are officially moving ahead with Dark Shadows as their next project. Burton will direct and Depp will star, as the duo has done seven times before in the past.

Apparently it was Depp who initiated the project, as the original 1960s/70s vampire TV soap opera has always been a bit of an obsession for him, and he had long desired to play lead vamp Barnabas Collins. For the longest time, it had basically been a foregone conclusion that the dynamic duo of surreal cinema would be moving on to Dark Shadows after wrapping up Alice in Wonderland, but now it's apparently for-real for-real. Although I think Burton has his feature-length Frankenweenie remake happening somewhere in there, as well--and Depp will be donning the mascara once again for a fourth Pirates go-round before then, too.

Not sure what took so long for the news to be officially disseminated, as sources are claiming that Depp himself announced it last week during a showing of Alice in Wonderland footage at the San Diego Comic Con. Nevertheless, these "official confirmations" have not been coming out till today. Hopefully this isn't some kind of elaborate jumping-of-the-gun. A Burton-Depp Dark Shadows has "WIN" written all over it...

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While I'm still up, I'd like to make mention of a new sidebar feature I've added, the Zombie Haiku of the Day. I'm taking them from Ryan Mecum's excellent Zombie Haiku collection--with the author's blessing, of course. In fact, Ryan was good enough not only to give me permission to do this, but also had some kind words to say about the Vault as well, which you'll find in the "Shameless Self-Promotion" section. Thanks, Ryan!

A Quarter-Century of Krueger: NOES Remake Comic Con Panel!

This week, in the spirit of San Diego Comic Con envy, I bring you video from yesterday's special panel on the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street. On the panel are producers Andrew Form and Brad Fuller of Platinum Dunes, as well as director Samuel Bayer and of course the new Freddy Krueger himself, Jackie Earle Haley...



Very cool stuff, although I confess to being a little troubled by Bayer's somewhat condescending comment regarding how his remake will be "different from what's come before" in that it will be "scary [and] a little darker". As if the original was Patch Adams or something. Hmmm....

Freddy cartoon by Montygog.

VAULT VLOG: Alas, To Be a Geek and Not at Comic Con...

Two More Reasons to Feel Like a Loser for Not Being at Comic Con...

When it comes to the Saw franchise, it's been a love/hate relationship with me for some time now. Loved the first one to death, but each sequel has been a disappointment to me, with varying degrees of suckitude. However, that said, none of them have been so bad as to completely put me off the series, and so I keep coming back, plunking down my hard-earned cash, like a sad, middle-aged bachelor at a strip club, who knows he's never going to get his money's worth, but keeps finding himself drawn back for more...

And so, today's news that the San Diego Comic Con will be chock-full of Saw-ness has given me just a couple more reasons to be depressed for not being there. Here it is, the center of the geek universe, the nerd equivalent of that Central Park street gang confab at the beginning of The Warriors, and I'm stuck on the other side of the country yet again. Oh well, there's always the New York Comic Con, which I have on good authority is poised to become a bigger deal than the SD one in the next couple years...

Anyway, the news I have to bring to you today is two-fold. Firstly, Horror-Movies.ca is reporting that the much-anticipated Saw video game, which seems to have been in development since forever, will finally be unveiled by Lionsgate this week at Comic Con. You can check it out at the Lionsgate booth (#3729). The game gets its official release on October 6 from Lionsgate and Konami. X Box and PlayStation 3 versions will be available (how did I guess that there's be no Wii version??).

Also, and even more importantly, the very first teaser trailer for Saw 857, er, I mean, Saw VI, will be introduced by none other than Jigsaw himself, Mr. Tobin Bell. Shock Till You Drop reported yesterday that the world's creepiest actor will be premiering the trailer to fans on Thursday as part of an autograph signing. Talk about sweet deals--that guy somehow continues to be involved in this franchise, despite the fact that his character has been dead for, what, the last two installments in the series??

The Saw series may not be my favorite, but it always manages to somehow keep me mildly interested. I don't know, maybe it's Mrs. B-Sol's continued, inexplicable enthusiasm for it. Anyway, I hope all you lucky bastids enjoy your Comic Con weekend! Anyone itching to do an official Vault of Horror Comic Con report, feel free to hit me up!

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For those of you wondering what's been going on over at Day of the Woman, rest assured that BJ-C is alive and well. The online Mistress of the Macabre, as most of you know, is a champion baton twirler, and it just so happens that at the moment, her team is competing at Notre Dame University for the National Championship once again. It's a week-long event, hence the relative quiet on the DotW front. But rest assured, BJ has some cool things in store once she returns in triumph. In the meantime, the Vault's best wishes go out to Zion, Illinois' Razzle Dazzles, who have even cooked up a suitably horror-themed twirling routine. Good luck, ladies--show those prehistoric bitches how they do things downtown...

Goyer to Adapt H.G. Wells' Invisible Man

I'm specifically saying "H.G. Wells' Invisible Man" for a reason. And no, it's not to differentiate from the Ralph Ellison novel. Rather, it's to differentiate from the 1932 Universal film. Fan-boy fave screenwriter David S. Goyer spoke to SciFi.com yesterday at Comic-Con (last time, I promise) about a new adaptation that he's currently working on which will be much more about Wells' original novel, incorporating Griffin's coveted notebooks containing the secrets of invisibility, which are mentioned at the end of the book, but never found.

Now, I don't know about you, but I've heard this story before. You know, the one about the guy who plans to take a horror property associated with an old Universal flick, go back to its literary roots and make a "faithful" adaptation. And while Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula (1992) and Kenneth Branagh's Frankenstein (1994) might be a bit truer to their sources than their 1930s Universal counterparts, they are both far from faithful (and both largely inferior, although the former is a great film.)

If you read the interview at SciFi.com, it sounds like Goyer's concept will probably fit into the same category. Still, even if it isn't what Wells intended, with Goyer penning, it stands a chance of being quite good.

The screenwriter recently finished up scripts for next year's Magneto movie, as well as 2010's cinematic arrival of The Flash.

Groovy! Sam Raimi to Start Work on Evil Dead IV

Yes, the nuggets of Comic-Con goodness just keep rolling in.

It's all in the super-preliminary stages right now, but Sam Raimi made some very interesting comments last night at the panel for his upcoming project, Drag Me to Hell, with regards to the future of his most beloved franchise. And if you think I'm talking about Spider-Man, then you're reading the wrong blog, pally.

According to the Geeks of Doom, Raimi stated that he planned to begin work on the script for a fourth Evil Dead film next week, along with his brother Ivan (who collaborated on the previous three pictures.) He also said he'd love to work with Bruce Campbell again, which sounds like he hasn't officially got him on board yet. But, come on now, how could you do an Evil Dead movie without him? I mean, it's not like he hasn't appeared in every single movie Raimi has ever made, anyway.

That said, Raimi is also involved with Spider-Man 4, although it's not known yet if he will direct. Should that happen, Evil Dead IV will no doubt slip down the list of priorities. Also, where does this leave the announced Evil Dead remake that Raimi is producing?

I'd be tempted to think the director was simply waxing nostalgic, but his comment about starting work next week seems awfully specific and premeditated. Let's hope he really is returning to his roots. Then we can start praying for Peter Jackson to get to work on Dead Alive II...

Universal Screens Wolf Man Footage at Comic-Con

As the promising remake of The Wolf Man grows steadily nearer, it has been reported that those who attended its panel for the film Friday afternoon at the San Diego Comic-Con were treated to some highlights.

Quint of Ain't It Cool News has filed an eyewitness report from the panel, which included makeup master Rick Baker, as well as Benicio "Larry Talbot" del Toro and his leading lady Emily Blunt. Quint describes gory scenes of assorted werewolfery, as well as Anthony "Sir John Talbot" Hopkins brandishing the same silver-headed cane seen in the 1941 original.

Unfortunately, he also reports on Baker's apparent frustration that although the actual Wolf Man is his own creation (“What I did in this film wasn’t all that different from what Jack Pierce did in the original”), the transformation scenes will be handled with CGI.

This remake really could go either way at this point, but I continue to be hopeful (what can I say, I'm just built that way.) In the meantime, check out the entire description here.

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In other news, I've just discovered that my post from a few days back containing the leaked pix of the new Jason Voorhees has mysteriously vanished from The Vault of Horror. Lest you think I've backed down in the face of studio pressure, dear reader, let me assure you that the removal occurred without my knowledge or permission. I'm assuming it's something Blogger did either preemptively, or in response to some kind of cease & desist order from New Line. Well, well, well, I suppose I'm not as "under the radar" as I supposed...