Invincible Iron Man #1 (2015)

Publisher - Marvel
Writer - Bendis
Art - David Marquez
-SPOILERS ALL THE TIME EVERYWHERE-
Even though Secret Wars the event itself has turned into somewhat of a debacle, running way behind schedule and losing massive amounts of steam in my eyes, there are definitely some interesting books coming out of it. Invincible Iron Man wasn't one of the titles I was planning to read but after a conversation with Alec at my local comic book store I decided to give this one a try.  Not disappointed. The art by Marquez is excellent and I like the redesign of the Iron Man armor. Sleek and streamlined. Also Tony Stark looks a bit less like Robert Downey Jr. which works for me.
 The story put its hooks in me quickly as they bring Madame Masque in and she has acquired something powerful from A.I.M.. Tony puts finishing touches on the suit redesign, converses with his A.I. helper Friday and runs off to a dinner date. Female Thor makes a quick cameo that is used effectively for a humorous touch and the date is cut short when Friday informs Tony that Madame Masque is in play and in action. Tony flies off in pursuit and we are met with an interesting reveal on the last page that I actually won't spoil.
Great first issue in my opinion. Bendis may be suited well to write this book. I enjoyed his work on the Avengers for years and on the X-Men as well, but it could be that I prefer his writing on solo books rather than on teams.  As I said I wasn't planning to read this but it is now on my buy list.
Gotta grab issue 2. Captain Creepy says BUY IT!

Thoughts on Ghost Hunters (the show)

I have watched Ghost Hunters since it premiered in 2004. For many years it was one of my favorite shows. Episode after episode of these plumbers by day walking around at night trying to help their clients figure out what was going on in their house. They were genuinely interested in helping people.
Flash forward to fall of 2015. Ten seasons in and it just isn't the same. It seems these days that every investigation that TAPS conducts is for a business or a larger entity rather than in the home of a regular person. Problem can be that it's really good publicity for a business to be haunted, or at least allegedly haunted. Brings in curious customers. Now our erstwhile investigators of the unknown investigate hotels, culinary institutes, libraries, and museums. Nothing wrong with it, just not the same as helping the scared family on the outskirts of town. There is a large team of investigators and we don't get the behind the scenes personal touches that the early seasons had. It seems much colder, sterile, and formulaic. Remember when there would be entire investigations where nothing paranormal or particularly odd happened? Now there is something odd within the first ten minutes of every investigation. Footsteps upstairs, a door opening or closing on its own, whatever. The thought may be that if nothing spooky happens why would anyone watch the show. Well, how about because of a thing called realism.  Even if a location is known for some odd things happening there, it doesn't always take place as soon as you walk in the door. Give me a break. I don't blame the cast of the show. They are under contract to do what they are told and not disclose anything, and they don't edit the episodes. Come on though, if as a viewer I need to see something creepy happen before the first commercial break, I can watch a scripted horror show. This is suppose to be real and believable and unscripted isn't it?
Another problem lately is that no matter what evidence the team turns up and no matter what they experience Jason tells the client that there isn't anything to be afraid of and that no one is in any danger and no need for concern. Nothing evil is afoot. Well, when every damn investigation there is tons of activity but no cause for concern, after a time you wonder what is the point. Are they looking for explanations for life after death, are they searching for meaning for their own existence? Trying to unravel the mysteries of the universe? Or are they, at this point, bringing publicity to a struggling bar or hotel that will generate business and hopefully put some money in some pockets?
Captain Creepy has had a chance to meet some of the members of the TAPS team and they are all very nice and cool people, so I don't mean to disparage them by any means. It is just frustrating to see something that use to be so interesting spiral into the abyss.
I have watched every episode of the series and will continue to do so, but let's face it, the shark has most definitively been jumped. It is time to hang up the K2 meters and end this. Maybe then the good folks from TAPS can get back to helping real families that are scared in their homes. That can probably never happen now though, as the cult of personality is too prominent. Some of the cast may be able to springboard into other opportunities and I don't blame them in any way, shape, or form if that is the case. Strike while the iron is hot and make hay while the sun shines, because the sun is setting on a once really great show. Ghost Hunters, it's been fun.

Metal Menagerie - SPACE CHASERS - "Watch The Skies"

I have been a metalhead since the beginning of time. Every sub-genre of metal holds a certain amount of appeal to me. Some more than others. Today I wanted to begin to take a look at some of the music in my collection. Finding a place to start had me scratching my head so I decided to begin with the cd that is currently spinning in my car. As good a place to start as any I suppose.
Space Chaser is a young German Thrash band that plays an up-tempo style that could be categorized as Speed Thrash. They released an ep in 2013, but the disc I'm discussing today is their first full length release, "Watch The Skies."
Upon picking this up the first thing you notice is the extremely cool cover art showing aliens blasting the crap out of a cityscape in true classic thrash style artwork. Promising start.
I probably won't do this for all the stuff I put on here, but for this release I decided to go track by track and say a few words about each one.
The disc kicks off with a track called "Interstellar Overlords." A song that seems to be about aliens coming to earth in ancient times to get people hooked on beer in order to make this planet much easier to conquer. That's some highbrow concept work right there! Nice riffing, some tempo changes, and energetic soloing make this an excellent start for the album.
"Loaded To The Top" is about zombies that are driven by a thirst for beer. Are we discovering a theme already? The thrash clichés abound throughout this release, but that is just part of the fun. From the Repkaesque artwork to songs about aliens, beer, zombies, beer, etc. If you enjoy these traditional aspects of thrash you will not be disappointed here.
The title track "Watch The Skies" is a pummeling riff monster where we start to get a good feel of what this band is capable of. It is a great song. The vocals stay in the high pitched style of thrash singing/screaming style for the most part. He adds a nice dimension over the top of the speedy riffs. His soaring and screeching style is a nice departure and sets Space Chaser apart from many similar bands out there. This is an energy band and the song "Watch The Skies" features a very Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth from Overkill style of vocals.
"Saucer Attack" follows and this time around the vocals veer into a more Sean Killian of Vio-Lence fame type of style. There is also some tastefully melodic soloing that hints at a bit of Kirk Hammett influence. Another strong song.
"Wastecrawler" is where I first learned about Space Chaser. I came across the video on Youtube and became interested in the band because of it. The Captain has a soft spot for modern metal videos that are shot on a non existent budget, yet are still able to capture the flavor and energy of the band. Wastecrawler teaches us about the horrors of a post apocalyptic world after being devastated by the invading alien hordes. There is a nice slammable mosh pit section in this song but it is not even close to being the best track on the album.
The song "Space Chaser" comes next and is an instrumental that serves as a nicely placed interlude to transition into the second half of the album. Space Chaser showcases some catchy guitar licks.
"Decapitron" describes a monstrosity created by using hazardous waste that is let loose on the land and is chopping the heads off anything that gets in its way. Featuring a decent bass intro and traditional riffing, this is solid thrash. I was hoping this song was gonna be about the Decapitron that is one of the murderous puppets in the Puppet Master movie series. Oh well, maybe Decapitron 2 is in the works.
"Predator" is a song about...you guessed it, the Predator movie. This may be my favorite track on the album. Predator features a noticeable Slayer vibe and portions of this song are so similar to "Angel of Death" that it is hard to ignore. Not complaining about the wearing of influences on their sleeve, just making an observation that is hard to overlook. I greatly enjoy the pace of this song, the riffs, and overall classic groove feel. Outstanding.
"Thrashold" is a typical thrash song about thrashing. No epic story. No mystery. Think along the lines of Metallica's "Whiplash" and you will be on the right track for Thrashold.
The final tune is called "Undead Revenge." Obviously this is a story about unicorns and cotton candy. Or maybe this is just a typical zombie themed jam to close out the disc.
Space Chaser aren't shy about showing their influences on this recording, even with the first listen. Gama Bomb is a band that may come to mind upon the first spin, but repeated listens begin to bring into focus exactly what is up with these guys. After eight to ten listens through, I knew that this is a band that excites me, and I can't wait to see what other nonsense they are capable of vomiting onto the masses.

"

TV Talk - "Orphan Black"

Orphan Black - I caught up with the first
two seasons and stayed current with season three of Orphan Black. It is an interesting production as I believe it to be a joint British, Canadian, and United States show. This is a fun show
that follows a group of clones that are just discovering each other's existence
and are trying to figure out exactly what they are and where they come from.
Tatiana Maslany is the actress that plays multiple roles, sometimes several
characters in a single scene, and she is great. Of course all of the clones are quite divergent. A British Punk, a Russian assassin, an American housewife caught up in scheme after scheme, a hair stylist, a businesswoman, a scientist. You get the picture. This is a well executed,
intriguing show with layer upon layer of conspiracy. I find myself enjoying the plot lines that
revolve around the twisted up day to day mundane lives of the clones more so
than the over arching conspiratorial plot. That is unusual for me. I will continue to watch Orphan Black but overall is doesn't quite live up to the underground cult status hype that it seems to receive.
Good stuff, but not great stuff.

TV Talk - "12 Monkeys"

12 Monkeys - A SyFy Channel series about a dude time traveling
back from the future to try and prevent a virus from being let loose onto the world. Yes, it is a version of the story from the movie with Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt. I watched
the first season, and it was recently renewed for season two. This is a well
written show that bounces all over the place. Thoughtful science fiction from the SyFy Channel. What a concept. This series is shot in a very dark manner which suits
it well and features good production values for a SyFy show. Lots of stuff going on in this
one so don't be scrolling through Facebook while you are viewing 12 Monkeys or
you may get lost. 12 Monkeys is available on Netflix and is definitely worth a watch. I like it a lot.

TV Talk - "Mountain Monsters"

 A favorite "reality" show of mine is Mountain Monsters. The premise is six good ole boys from the A.I.M.S. research team travel around in their dirty clothes and try to track down and capture all sorts of bizarre and fascinating Cryptids. This season everybody's favorite West Virginian cryptic research team has been pursuing Bigfoot all over Appalachia. This show is so ridiculous that it borders on embarrassing, but I can't help it, I love it. It's so dumb and fun and I like all these big dumbasses running around the woods at night tripping all over each other. The ultimate goal every episode is to capture the creature of the week in some sort of crazy trap that would make Freddy from Scooby Doo jealous. This would be considered a guilty pleasure except for the fact that I don't feel the least bit guilty for enjoying it. Everyone should jump on board with the hillbillies Trapper, Buck, Huckleberry, Jeff, Wild Bill, and Willy. They seem like nice guys and if you live in the Appalachia's and are having problems with a Wampus Cat you should give these guys a call. Fun stuff!

Captain Creepy's Crazy Cult Cinema - "Witchboard"

I love horror movies from the 80's. Many of them are so good and many more of  them are so bad. Some of the best ones though are so good and so bad at the same time. Witchboard from 1986 actually holds up well for a movie from this era. The music lets you know all too well what decade this is from with its generic hard rock soundtrack and electronic drum sounds. The music sounds exactly like any one of hundreds of other movies from the time. I can picture Sly Stallone as Rocky driving around in his fancy sportscar trying to figure out if he should climb in the ring with Ivan Drago while this music pulsates in the background. Getting past the music though, let's move on to the film itself.
Witchboard starts out at a party hosted by 80's/90's dream girl Tawny Kitaen and her boyfriend (no it's not David Coverdale). Linda (Tawny) invited her former boyfriend Brandon to the party, much to the chagrin of her current live in boyfriend Jim. There is heavy animosity between Brandon and Jim. Brandon busts out his Ouija Board and he and Linda use the board to call upon the spirit of a ten year old boy named David. Brandon has been communicating with David through the board for quite some time, he discloses. Of course Jim isn't buying it and things take a turn for the worse. The party ends badly as Jim and Brandon nearly come to blows during which Brandon leaves, forgetting to grab his Ouija. He calls Linda the next day and asks her to return his Witchboard to him later that week. Linda begins experimenting with the board by herself, which is a big no-no, asking David many questions and quickly becoming obsessed with the board and with the spirit of David. Bad things start to happen to Jim, seemingly due to the fact that David doesn't like Jim. Linda starts to act completely out of character as she begins to swear and become very moody and not like her normal self.
Later we discover that Jim and Brandon grew up together as best friends and had a falling out. The movie fleshes out some back story for the characters and does a good job of engaging the viewer and drawing you into the story. Jim and Brandon decide they have to put aside their differences in order to help Linda and defeat the evil spirit that may or may not be the young boy David, or may be someone else altogether.
The boys call in a psychic medium to try and help out the situation. The psychic, Zarabeth, is played by the girl that later played Luke's sister in Gilmore Girls. Zarabeth again hits us up side the head with 80's cliché as her appearance is a mix of Madonna, Boy George, and every punkish pre gothic stereotype that was conceivable in 1986. She is a good actress and a fun character at least.
There are some slow spots in Witchboard but overall I really like this movie. I hadn't watched this in years and must say that the acting is well done and the story is good. There is the typical cheese but much of the movie is played straight. It is a lot of fun but not overly ridiculous, a trap that many films from this time fall into.  Anyone that enjoys horror from this time period and isn't put off by the music and hairstyles may well find themselves happy to add this movie to their collection.
Captain Creepy loves Witchboard! Check it out.

Comic Spotlight - "Resident Alien"

Resident Alien is a comic book series that is published Dark Horse Comics. It isn't released as an ongoing monthly title but rather as a series of mini series that are released maybe four issues or so in a year. This publishing strategy seems to work well for Resident Alien. As of this writing there have been three mini series released with hopefully many more to come. The writer for this series is Peter Hogan and the artist is Steve Parkhouse, both veterans of the industry.
The general concept is that a few years ago an alien crash landed on earth. Now he is stranded here and is trying to make contact with his home planet so that he can go home. Kind of an ET scenario. In the meantime he is biding his time, living in a cabin by a lake, spending his time trying to figure a way to contact his people, and also fishing in the lake. He has the power to camoflouge himself so that only approximately one in a million earthlings can see him in his true form. To everyone else, he appears as a normal looking human man. He lives under the guise of a semi-retired doctor named Harry Vanderspiegle. His cover is that he is retired yet does some research from his home by the lake. Harry keeps to himself and has very little contact with other people in the area.
After the murder of the local doctor, the only doctor in the region, our alien is approached by two people from the nearby town of Patience, the Mayor and the Sheriff. They want Harry to fill in as the town doctor for a short time until a full time replacement can be found. Unable to come up with a non suspicious way of not helping, Harry agrees to help. Harry begins providing medical services to the locals and is surprised to find that he enjoys it. He also begins investigating the murder of the former town doctor and discovers he has great detective skills. This twist leads us off into the meat of the series.
Resident Alien comes across as a mash up of Diagnosis Murder, Murder She Wrote, and Northern Exposure, only featuring an alien protagonist. The small town doctor solving mysteries. Patience is a typical quirky little town with quirky people that seems common in these types of stories. Towns from shows like Northern Exposure, Gilmore Girls, Hart of Dixie, or Picket Fences come to mind. We get to know many of the folk throughout the series and Peter Hogan writes in such a comfortably breezy manner that it feels like I'm watching a series on ABC Family. Steve Parkhouse renders his art in a simple and effective way, with nice linework and beautiful colors that help sell the total package.
You will never see this title at the top of any sales charts or on many end of the year "best of" lists since it is such a low profile, understated, and under the radar book. That's a shame because Resident Alien is a great book and reading it feels like you are slipping into a comfortable pair of old shoes. I look forward to more great mysteries and stories with Dr. Harry Vanderspiegle in the future.

Captain Creepy's Crazy Cult Cinema - "Jinn"

I remember some time ago seeing a trailer for Jinn. It seems like it was at the theater where I saw it, however that may not be accurate and was probably at the beginning of another movie I was watching at the time. What I do recall is that Jinn looked intriguing and when it popped up on Netflix I knew the time was right to check it out.
The mythology of the movie is that there were three types of beings created by God. Human, Angels, and Jinn. The Jinn are basically fallen angels that were cast from Heaven for refusing to acknowledge the superiority of humans in creation. The Jinn have been roaming the Earth ever since causing all sorts of chaos and mayhem and mischief. These are beings that were created from smoke and live in  a dimension just offset a touch from our own from which they can enter into our dimension at will.
Shawn is a man living with his wife Jasmine in Michigan and they want to have a baby but Jasmine is unable to bear children. Shawn begins to notice a shadow man type figure around his house. This is spooky and well done. Bad things begin to happen to Shawn and Jasmine. Shawn meets a man named Gabriel, played by Ray Park (Snake Eyes from GI Joe and Darth Maul from Star Wars). Gabriel introduces Shawn to a priest named Father Westhoff. These two characters take Shawn to meet a man named Ali, who is living in a mental hospital. We learn that Ali is Shawn's uncle and that their family has battled for generations against the sinister forces known as the Jinn. Think the Van Helsings and vampires. Gabriel has been acting secretly as Shawn's guardian angel for many years. The remainder of the movie is our team of heroes attempting to defeat the Jinn and drive them from the land. A coming of age story as Shawn attempts to fulfill his destiny. His heroes quest.
Jinn is a movie that had a lot of unrealized potential. I like the premise a lot, but was less than impressed with the execution. It's hard to pinpoint where exactly this went off the rails. The script isn't bad but could have used a little tightening. Effects are nice and there is some enjoyable atmosphere. It just seemed to lack a punch and fell flat. I really wanted to like this movie but couldn't quit get there. Captain Creepy found Jinn to be not bad, but average at best. This may be worth a watch if the premise sounds interesting to you although if you were to pass on Jinn it wouldn't be a big loss. 5 out of 10.

Captain Creepy's Crazy Cult Cinema - "The Reeds"

The Reeds - A group of friends in England take a weekend trip on a boating expedition. They travel through a reedy area of canals. Strange things begin to happen. A group of teenagers covered in blood are being stalked in the canals by a hooded stranger near the boaters. Then an accident happens with the boat and they are stuck. Will they get out? Will they survive? Who the Hell are these weird teens and why do they appear to be cannibals?

 The Reeds is one of the "After Dark Horrorfest 8 movies to die for" movies. Of course these are often a mixed bag, and this one was somewhat disappointing to me. After a strong start The Reeds begins to fade. The second half of the film isn't very good in my eyes. This is a decent, average movie with some creepy atmosphere that just couldn't stick the landing. The viewer goes through some twists and turns that end up sending them the wrong way down a one way street.

 

Captain Creepy's Crazy Cult Cinema - "Grave Encounters 1 & 2"

Here are a few quick thoughts about some things I have recently viewed.

Grave Encounters - This is a fun docudrama about a team of ghost hunters that have a reality show. They set out to investigate an old mental asylum that proves to be more than they bargained for. Grave Encounters is a little light on the "horror scope" of things. Not especially scary or creepy, but that isn't what they were going for. It succeeds on what it brings to the (levitating) table. Some fun light horror that shows interesting behind the scenes type tidbits from their "Grave Encounters" paranormal TV show in a tongue in cheek manner. I was told of this movie a few years ago by Adam Berry from the actual "Ghost Hunters" show on SyFy Channel. I was at a paranormal investigating event  that he was involved in and he talked about this movie. He said there is a lot of stuff here that was quite accurate with what his experiences have been in relation to being on a show of this nature. Neat stuff overall. This is a fun movie and is worth a watch.

Grave Encounters 2 - Not so much. A college film student is working on his thesis film. He is also obsessed with what happened in the original Grave Encounters movie. It's been a few years since those events took place and he takes a group to the same mental hospital from the first movie. That is where he plans on finishing his film. Needless to say, the group is surprised by what they find. I guess Grave Encounters 2 isn't terrible. It starts out pretty good then falls off. I must admit that it was a struggle to stay awake during the final act. Maybe it was just me but this one didn't work so well. I would recommend checking out Grave Encounters and skipping part 2. Keep it Creepy.

 

Captain Creepy's Crazy Cult Cinema - "The Babadook"

One of the most anticipated movies to hit the underground movie scene in quite a while, The Babadook took horror fans by storm, becoming very popular and making many "Best of" lists for 2014. Always seemingly a day late and a dollar short, it was only recently that Captain Creepy finally took the time to find out what all of the hype was about. Well, I liked it.
What we have is a very small, intimate movie about a woman and her son. The woman, Amelia, was widowed after a car crash that happened as her husband was driving her to the hospital to give birth to their son. Years later, she is still haunted terribly by the event. She doesn't sleep very much at all and she is suffering deep psychological issues. Amelia is an extremely disturbed person. Her son, Sam, is also disturbed. He lashes out at people, acts up in school, and is a handful 24/7. Sam rarely sleeps either as he is deathly afraid of monsters, and his mom goes around every night looking under his bed and in the closet to ease his mind that monsters are not lurking, waiting for him to go to sleep.
Amelia and Sam live an isolated life. People don't like to be around them because of Sam's bad behavior and Amelia's constant melancholic state. As part of their nightly ritual Amelia reads bedtime stories to Sam, and one day he comes across a book he would like her to read to him. The book is titled "The Babadook." She doesn't understand where this book came from but she begins to read it to Sam. What we discover is The Babadook is a boogeyman that comes in the night, looking like a shadow person or a hat man. What was already a highly stressful and troubled existence in the household now takes a turn straight down the highway to Hell. 
I laid out the setup for anyone that may be interested, but if you want to know what happens you will have to watch it yourself.
The Babadook is an interesting story. Although categorized as a horror movie, it is a different kind of horror really. A psychological horror, dealing with many emotional issues and mental conditions. There are many levels to this story and many questions are left unanswered. For instance, at one point it is mentioned that Amelia use to be a writer of children's things and I kept wondering whether she was the author of The Babadook book.
This is a film that is not fun. It is disturbing on an emotional level. Are the main characters truly being haunted or are they crazy? Or being slowly driven crazy by their sleep deprived lives? There is no silly slasher movie type goofiness going on here. This movie is well acted and well directed. I give this a high recommendation, just know going in that this is dark cinema.

Captain Creepy's Crazy Cult Cinema - "Late Phases"

Late Phases is a quiet little werewolf movie that harkens back to films like
Silver Bullet. It has a slow moving laid back feel that is somehow very
comforting as you experience it. 
We begin with a widowed blind military veteran named Ambrose McKinley, played by Nick Damici. He is a proud man that doesn't expect or want any help or sympathy from anyone, especially his son, played by the always effective Ethan Embry (Freakylinks). Ambrose moves into a
nice retirement community that is next to a large woods and almost immediately
finds himself in the midst of some strange goings on. There are dog attacks that
have been happening in the community that have resulted in the deaths of some of
the residents, including the previous occupant of his new house. It doesn't take
the grumpy assed Ambrose long to figure out that these are not typical animal
attacks that are occurring every month during the full moon, especially after
his seeing eye dog Shadow is killed during an attack. For the rest of the movie
we watch as Ambrose prepares himself for battle he plans to wage against the
lycanthrope.
The effects are rather cheese laden. The werewolf is a far cry
from great looking, but that's not the thing with this movie. It is a "feel"
type of movie instead of a visceral gore fest.
My favorite performance in Late Phases is the always amazing Tom Noonan as the chain smoking and odd local pastor. Noonan is a great actor and I wish he was in every film. Such a strange
and awe inspiring presence he brings to the screen. Also of note is Lance Guest
in a strong supporting role and Tina Louise, frickin' Ginger from Gilligan's
Island, as a neighbor of Ambrose. Actually a tremendous cast all the way around.
Late Phases is not a great movie, but it's a pretty darn good one. Captain
Creepy says check it out.

TV Talk - "Broadchurch"

Every once in a while I come across a show that I have never really heard of or paid attention to, but when I sample it I am blown away by the quality and awesomeness. One example that comes quickly to mind is Dexter. I think Dexter was in its second season when I finally decided to check out the first few episodes of season one, after multiple people had been telling me how good it was. Well, needless to say, they were correct. I found Dexter to be one of the most well written and best overall shows that I had watched in years. This is basically what happened recently with Broadchurch. After viewing the first few episodes I was absolutely hooked. I had to burn through the episodes as fast as possible to find out what happened next.
The set up of the show is one morning in a coastal town in Britain the body of a young boy is discovered on the beach. The season is eight episodes long and is a single arc trying to unravel the mystery of the boys murder.
What sets this series apart from most other shows is in the incredible quality of the entire production. The acting is first rate with David Tennant from Doctor Who leading the way as the Detective Inspector in charge of the investigation. His partner, played by Olivia Colman, is equally impressive. Her performance comes across as so real and raw that it would be difficult to find anyone better in that role. Just overall the acting is great. The story is great as well. It is such a powerful season that my nerves were frazzled by the end. One of the things I appreciate about many British shows and Broadchurch in particular is that they don't always pepper the cast with 25 year old models. The cast looked like regular people, acted like regular people, and dressed like regular people. Colman as the female lead is a normal looking woman that wore a simple windbreaker for much of the season. It lends an aire of realism and credibility that many shows are lacking.
The eight episodes provide a roller coaster ride of emotion as the viewer attempts to solve this twisted whodunnit. There are numerous suspects and great cases to be made for any of them to be the killer.  The final show of the season gives the payoff to the viewer, as the mystery is resolved. What I find interesting is that as much as I enjoyed the season, when I learned that there was a second season that had begun airing I had mixed emotions. I was happy that a show I love was going to continue on with new content, but I am also of the opinion that sometimes it's better to go out at the right time rather than automatically continue on because of the ratings. In other words, the storyline of season one was so good that I would have preferred they just ended the series at the conclusion of the original eight episodes. Crazy idea I know. As a matter of fact I enjoyed the second season quite a bit, and recently learned that a third season is on the way. This is good news. It will be tough to surpass season one in Captain Creepy's eyes, but maybe they will find a way to make that happen. In any event, anyone that hasn't watched season one of Broadchurch needs to rectify that situation as soon as possible. It's a great television show.

TV Talk - "iZombie"

iZombie - Based on a DC Comics Vertigo (Mature Readers) title from a few years ago, iZombie is the tale of a girl named Liv Moore (ironic name), who was attacked at a party and woke up as a zombie. She works at a morgue, which comes in handy because if she doesn't eat brains every so often she begins to deteriorate and turn into an actual zombie. If she eats brains she appears normal and can maintain a somewhat normal existence. She assists a local homicide cop on cases because he believes her to be psychic. What really happens is when she eats the brains of a corpse in the morgue she obtains some of that persons memories, feelings, and abilities, and has inside insights into their demise. This show is like a cross between Psyche  and Veronica Mars. A fun, light hearted show about a murder victim sustaining herself on other people's brains. I like it. The show was recently announced that it was picked up for a second season. That's great news! The comic series was also a lot of fun. In that version our heroine worked at a cemetery as a grave digger. The comics were different but equally well done. Fun stories by Chris Roberson and amazing artwork by Mike Allred. Both versions are worthy.

FORTEAN FILES - Nonsense From Creepy's Crazed Cranium

WARNING! Reading Captain Creepy may warp your mind. Or make your IQ drop several points.

This world we live in is very strange. Weird things happen all the time all across the Earth. Sometimes the very reality we live in can be called into question. Do any of us know the truth?

I thought I would write a little post rambling on about some crazy thoughts and ideas, none of which could possibly be real....could they?

Are there such things as ghosts? People have reported visions and encounters forever. Are all these people nuts, or misidentifying something else? Why when people see "ghosts" are the spectres usually wearing Victorian era clothing? How come you rarely if ever hear stories that people saw an apparition wearing a Metallica T shirt and jeans? Or work clothes? Seems odd to me. Not many ghosts sporting 3 piece suits carrying a briefcase, or even naked. Why does a ghost need clothes at all? Why do we think they are lingering spirits to begin with? Maybe they are angels, demons, someone bleeding through from a different dimension or reality if this exist. Why do we think the mysterious entity we saw in the darkness was good old Uncle Ralph? We have no idea what the damn things are. Could be just energy that hasn't dissipated. Energy from what, I have no answer. But something is there, isn't it?

Is Bigfoot real? If so, I doubt Bigfoot is an undiscovered ape walking around crossing the street in front of cars. Wonder where their bones and bodies end up after they die? There are those that think Bigfoot is an alien species. Or some type of paranormal entity. Maybe dropped here on this prison planet. Is Earth a prison planet? Did it start that way? Bigfoot traveling the space ways inside a UFO? Many reports indicate that. Strange as it may be.

Are we even "real" or do we exist in someone else's mind? Would that make us less?  

Do Angels and Demons travel around in UFO's? Could be.

UFO's are real. Of this I don't doubt. There are many unidentified objects flying all over the place. What they are is a different matter. Are UFO's living beings of some sort or just cosmic cars like on The Jetsons? They can't all be top secret government aircraft. 

Many people are too afraid to know the truth about any of this stuff. They could be right. Maybe it's better to not wonder about these things. Maybe we don't want to know what really has been going on. Maybe we can't handle the truth. The entire planet could be run by Satan himself or some small group of Alien beings. How about the illuminati? The 1% of the 1%.

Many believe the United States was founded as a Christian country. I'm not so sure about that. There was a lot of ritualistic ceremony and magic that went into play in the founding of the country. Are we so sure that this place wasn't actually set up as a Satanic or Luciferian state to begin with? Have we been lied to for centuries? Probably.

I have many questions but not a lot of answers. The people that think they have all the info and all the answers are the people that worry me. Why do so many insist on dismissing ideas out of hand? Must be great to have so much knowledge.

Do we live in a computer simulation? At this point I think that is a somewhat likely scenario. How insane does that sound? Yet it could be absolutely true.

What is real? Life? Or are we in the afterlife right now? How would we know? Are we just a thought in God's mind?

A thought that has been gaining steam recently is that all time runs concurrently. There is no yesterday, today, or tomorrow. All time exists at once. That would seem to make time travel a bit more plausible I would guess. Are UFO's time machines and the occupants time travelers from the future? Is it us? That idea is also out there. 

How about the skeletons of giants that they have supposedly been finding all over the Earth for hundreds of years? Some with two rows of teeth, red hair, six fingers. Fascinating stuff to look into. I don't know why there are so few people that take the time to do a little research on such mind boggling concepts and ideas. 

There is much more nonsense floating around in my noggin. Hopefully I will get some time to go deeper into my madness in future posts. Possibly to extrapolate on some of the crazy concepts I have been spitting, or maybe not. I'm only certain of one thing, and that is that there is one Hell of a lot more going on in this world we live in than what we are told. Creepy. 

Movie Spotlight - "WOLFCOP"

Recently I had the pleasure of watching a movie that I had been waiting for months to see. Wolf Cop is a new movie that is a total throwback to the glory days of crappy films. They went for an 80's vibe and totally nailed it. Like somewhat of the bastard child of Teen Wolf mixed with a bad cop flick, it's hard to not feel nostalgic when viewing this masterpiece/turd. All the information you need to have to determine if you want to see this is quite simple. He's a wolf. He's a cop. He's Wolfcop. If that doesn't grab you right there, you should probably pass on this.

 But here's the setup anyway.

We start with some hooded figures in the woods performing some sort of ritual. 

We flash ahead to our main man, down and out cop Lou Garou (a little foreshadowing there), as he stumbles around drunkenly on the job, and everywhere else. He's has the potential to be a good cop. He just seems to have lost all motivation, given up on life, and turned to a lifestyle of lecherous debauchery. One morning when Lou wakes up he discovers a pentagram has been carved into his chest. He has no recollection of how it got there. Later, while doing his business at a urinal, his urine transforms into blood and he begins transforming for the first time. This is a well done scene, with cool practical effects. Especially disturbing is that we are shown his pecker transforming to its werewolf version. Very unique. The transformation is complete. He is Wolfcop. His police cruiser he modifies and turns it into the Wolfmobile. Ridiculousness ensues. Lou finds himself tail deep in an ages old conspiracy that may prove too much for the now highly motivated officer of the paw. I mean law. 

Wolfcop has a definite Canadian feel to it as well. That vibe that underlies shows like Corner Gas. It's fun. It's somehow understated. The acting is good. The movie is well made and well directed. They aren't breaking any new ground here, except maybe the werewolf penis thing, but Wolfcop is a fun little travel back in time for fans like me, that enjoy B-Movies. I also read that Wolfcop 2 is in the works. Happy happy joy joy.

Movie Spotlight - "It Came Without Warning" (1980)

"It Came Without Warning" has a very interesting story. Released in 1980 it is a combination of sci-fi/horror/slasher.

The basic premise is that there is an 8 foot tall blue skinned alien with a giant bulbous head that is hanging around in the woods near this lake hunting people down for sport. He throws little frisbee like discs that have teeth and creepy looking feelers and if they land on someone the feelers penetrate the skin and begin to suck the blood from the victim, unto death. It is rather silly but the effects are kind of cool. They achieve a rather gross effect in which it appears that ketchup and mustard are pouring out of the frisbee alien attached to the human. There is the pre-requisite group of young people that are heading out to the lake for a fun filled time, led by an extremely young David Caruso in his first feature film appearance. He is also wearing some shorts that would make Daisy Duke blush. It doesn't take long for the action to get going and the happy group of youths are turned unhappy in short order. We see numerous deaths and near deaths at the hand of the alien, who is shown mostly in shadow and obscured until near the end of the movie. His appearance is actually more effective when left in the shadows. Not the greatest looking monster, but not bad overall. This movie features several name actors for a B-Movie, though they are past their prime. Martin Landau is a former army guy named Sarge, who is the local crazy that tells all the townsfolk about the alien, to no avail. Jack Palance is a hunter that is on the trail of the alien. Palance is in good form in his part. Just crazy enough to get the job done. Cameron Mitchell and Larry Storch also make short appearances in this film, like I said, not bad for a small budget. The other noteworthy item is that many say that the basic story for "Predator" was lifted from this movie, then tweaked a bit. I don't know if that is true, but there are definite similarities. What is interesting on this front is that Kevin Peter Hall plays the giant blue alien, and years later also portrays the Predator. Without Warning is decent entertainment that drags through a somewhat slow middle section. Overall it is worth a viewing as long as your expectations are tempered going in. Not classic, but kind of fun for fans of this type of cinema. Captain Creepy hopes everyone enjoys Without Warning.

Creepy's Favorite Comics of 2014

We are in the glory days of good comic books. I could make a list of 10 different titles from each publisher that I like without much of a problem. But here are 10 of my favorite titles from 2014.
 

10. AMAZING SPIDERMAN (Marvel) – Peter Parker returned as Spiderman in 2014 and Dan Slott, the writer of Amazing Spiderman, has been hitting us with issue after issue of great Spiderman stories featuring an outstanding supporting cast. This has been a consistently fun book to read  over the past year.
 

9. GRAYSON (DC) – Dick Grayson debuted a new title in 2014, leaving his Nightwing mantle to go undercover as an agent of the Spyral organization. With great multi layered spy stories is every issue and off the charts artwork by Michael Janin. A super cool, fun new book. 
 

8. NAILBITER (Image) – Josh Williamson is writing a large stack of comics every month, many of which are very good, but my favorite of the bunch is Nailbiter. The story is set in Buckaroo Oregon, where there are a crazy amount of serial killers, and our lead characters are trying to get to the bottom of the mystery. The mystery of course is why do so many serial killers hail from this particular town? Every issue has been good and Williamson continues to build to a much larger story that has yet to be revealed.
 

7. LAZARUS (Image) – Greg Rucka’s groundbreaking world building story and Michael Lark’s unnaturally awesome art continue to make Lazarus one of the best books on the rack. A tremendous science fiction story with great characters and an unlimited future.  Great book!
 

6. DAREDEVIL (Marvel) – Mark Waid and Chris Samnee are soon to be ending their long run on this title. It has consistently been a remarkable read. Classic superhero stories executed to the nth degree. Mark Waid is a master at his craft and this is one of the best runs ever on this title, which is saying a lot.
 

5. FANTASTIC FOUR (Marvel) – Very much like Mark Waid, James Robinson has been writing outstanding comic books for many years. This current run of his on the Fantastic Four has been such a surprisingly enjoyable read to me. I’m not traditionally a huge FF fan, but Robinson has crafted stories that hit all the right notes. It feels retro, yet current at the same time. It is good, solid, comic storytelling by a master. This title is also ending soon and I hope that Robinson is given another top level property with which to work his magic.
 

4. X-FILES (IDW) – Joe Harris has done a remarkable job in capturing the proper tone and feel of the classic X-Files. This comic is so overlooked yet wonderfully done that I can’t believe it. I hope it goes on for a long time. Mulder, Scully, and the entire gang are here, waist deep in conspiracies and the supernatural. The cover artwork each month by Francesco Franchevilla is totally amazing as well and fits the book perfectly.
 

3. WALKING DEAD (Image) – After all these years The Walking Dead continues to remain at a superior level of quality. Things happen in the story that make you think that Robert Kirkman has somehow cornered himself. You think that the story is going to fizzle out. You are wrong. This past year the story moved forward tremendously. Every time it looks like it is headed for a downturn it surprises once again with interesting twists and turns. 
 

2. OUTCAST (Image) – A new Robert Kirkman scribed horror book? Count me in. Outcast is about demonic possession and is a true character study. This title started in 2014 and has been great. I think this is going to end up as a tv series and it would be a good one. I love this book, the story, and the art.
 

1. BATMAN ETERNAL (DC) - My favorite title from a very strong year in comics. This is a weekly title that began around March and has come out every week since. They are doing 52 issues and it will soon be over. This is a weekly comic done right. By putting out so many issues in a short amount of time the fear is that the quality would suffer. Not the case for this book. Scott Snyder has been overseeing this project with a rotating staff of creators and it has been so much fun. There is a lot of story that can be told when issues are rolling out at this pace. This is good stuff.
 

I could name a bunch of other books as honorable mention, but I think I will stick to three.

BATMAN (DC) – Scott Snyder’s regular monthly Bat book has been outstanding since day one, and continues to be.
 

INJUSTICE (DC) – The Tom Taylor written web series features great storytelling in an elseworlds style alternate reality DC universe. One of the best titles being produced.
 

C.O.W.L. (Image) – This book has not been setting the sales charts on fire but it is a very good new series. Kyle Higgins is producing a great concept book featuring an organized union of super powered beings that are contract workers for the city of Chicago in 1962. Great setting and a super story. 
 

Captain Creepy can only keep his fingers crossed that 2015 will continue the trend of great books that have been produced for the past few years. Take care.

 

Spotlight on the Friday The 13th movie series

For poops and giggles I decided to re-watch all the Friday The 13th movies and post a few thoughts on each of them. What better day to do this than today, Friday The 13th! Let's get this started.

Friday The 13th (1980) - This was a good start to the franchise. Features a young Kevin Bacon and Betsy Palmer as Jason's mother. She never wanted to do the movie but her car was in the shop and she needed money for repairs, so she took the role. She told me that in person at a convention. Nice lady. Camp Crystal Lake counselors were too busy having sex and partying when they were suppose to be watching young Jason, who ends up drowning. His mother was a cook at the Camp and now blames anyone who would ever be a camp counselor for the loss of her son. Adrienne King does a fine job as the final girl. Jason appears at the very end. They borrowed much from Mario Bava's Bay of Blood movie for this. It is a good movie and I rate it an 8 out of 10. As much for historical significance as anything.

Friday The 13th Part II (1981) - Five years have transpired since the events in the first movie. Jason makes his debut as the killer. Jason is really scrawny and is dressed exactly like the killer from "The Town That Dreaded Sundown." To me, this is the epitome of a slasher movie. The apex of the form. Amy Steel is great in her role as the final girl. The setup is that they are using Camp Crystal Lake to hold a 2 week training program for counselors and Jason isn't very happy about it. I give this one a 10 rating. This is the best movie in the series in my eyes. A blueprint for the slasher genre.

Friday The 13th Part III (1982) - Remember watching this in the theater in 3d when it first came out? I do. It was an awesome experience at the time. They rely quite a bit on the 3d gimmick in this, and watched without the 3d now, it for sure loses something in the translation. Still, not a bad one. College kids on vacation at the lake. Big points for the debut of the hockey mask (thanks for that Shelley). Jason look really starts to come into focus. Also features possibly the lamest  "biker gang" in the history of cinema. I give this sequel a rating of a 6.

Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) - Joseph Zito takes over the director's chair for this outing which entails a group of teens that rent a cabin next door to the Jarvis family. A young Corey Feldman plays Tommy Jarvis, an important character in the Friday The 13th mythos. Crispin Glover also appears as one of the teenagers in peril. This features further development in the character of Jason. Also, rather than a "final girl", Part 4 has a certain surviving young boy that may have gone over the edge. This is one of the better installments and I give it an 8.

Friday The 13th: A New Beginning (1985) - A returning Tommy Jarvis is grown. He is a disturbed individual with what happened to him in the previous movie. Tommy is moved to a halfway house with a bunch of other misfits. This is suppose to take place in a different state than any of the previous movies. I believe they are set in New Jersey and this is in Connecticut. Part 5 features a huge body count, but it is delivered by a counterfeit Jason. He is a crazy guy that is mimicking our dear Mr. Voorhees. There are rather decent characters in this movie, the tenants at the halfway house are interesting fodder. The kid that played Arnold's friend Dudley on Different Strokes and the dude that played Juwanna Mann are both featured and do good jobs in their roles. Tons of sex and drug use in this movie, but that doesn't deter me from recognizing this as one of my favorites in the series. I give this one a 9.

Friday The 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986) - It's years later and Tommy Jarvis is back, but played by a different actor. A dude from Return of The Living Dead even. Tommy has been released from custody and is now free. This marks the return of the actual Jason, however this is the beginning of the supernatural Jason. He is brought back to life by a lightning strike in a bit of an homage to Frankenstein's Monster. There is a lot of humor in Part 6 which gives a bit of a different feel to the entire film. This time Jason is tall and skinny and bulked up with a padded outfit. In another odd turn of events, I don't think there is any nudity whatsoever in this entire show. That is somewhat of a radical departure for a slasher movie. A nice rockin' soundtrack featuring Alice Cooper also adds a little something to the mix. This one gets a rating of a 7.

Friday The 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988) - The quintessential Jason, Kane Hodder makes his debut as the murderous masked mutilating marauder of the macabre. Kane Hodder plays the best Jason by far. In Part 7, Tina, a telepathic girl, her mom, and her headshrinking doctor go to the lake so Tina can face her fears about the death of her dad at the lake years before. A ridiculous amount of sex abounds this time around. Something akin to late night Cinemax back in the day. Tina accidently brings Jason back with her telepathic powers, setting up the massive killing spree that we are all waiting for. This movie also continues the tradition of the cheap jump scare as a cat jumps out across the screen at just the right time. Seen that one a few times. This is a decent romp with a great Jason, but overall I give it a 6.

Friday The 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989) - It's time for the senior trip for the kids from Crystal Lake School. How about a cruise to Manhattan? Sounds great, except Jason is stuck at the bottom of the lake and is somehow unstuck by the boat anchor and in the ultimate suspension of disbelief brought back once again, not by lightning or telepathy, but by being sparked back to life by some conveniently placed electrical wires. They actually only reach Manhattan for the last half hour or so of the movie, which culminates with a melted face Jason. This is pretty much a stinker. Really bad. I generously give this a 4 out of 10. Generously.

Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday (1993) - Part 9 takes us in a totally different direction thank God. Jason is ambushed by a government task force and is blown to Hell. During his autopsy his spirit enters the body of the medical examiner and possesses him. When the possessed person dies, the spirit of Jason hops into the next person. The person looks like themselves, but if their reflection is seen in a mirror you see the visage of Jason looking back. Creighton Duke, played by the X-Files Mister X himself, Stephen Williams, is a hardened bounty hunter that is hot on Jason's trail. The wonderful Erin Gray (met her a couple of times) plays a waitress at the diner, and she shares a hidden history with Jason. (Think Jamie Lee Curtis and Michael Myers in Halloween for a reference.) Kane Hodder makes an appearance without the hockey mask as a doomed security guard during one scene, which was a nice touch. There is also one particularly brutal and gruesome kill at a campfire that stands out in my mind as a true highlight. For some unknown reason the bounty hunter knows how to kill Jason, still haven't figured that out yet. Overall this features some good kills, but not enough Jason. It was a good try to do something a little different, but a magical dagger? Really? I rate this one at a 5.

Jason X (2001) - The government wants the secrets to Jason's ability to regenerate. They cryogenically freeze him until they have the technology to figure this out. Several hundred years go by and a group of young people on a field trip to a now uninhabitable earth find Jason and take him aboard their spaceship. They head back towards their planet, Earth 2. Jason thaws during the journey and madness ensues. How did we manage to get from Friday The 13th Part 1 to this? Maybe Jason will burn up while entering the atmosphere after free falling from outer space. This movie is watchable, barely, but slightly embarrassing, and not what I personally want out of a Friday The 13th. The  best I can give this is a 3 out of 10. Yikes.

Freddy vs. Jason (2003) - Although far more of an Elm St. movie than a Friday The 13th, this still qualifies as the 11th in the series. In this installment Freddy Krueger is trying to come back to continue his shenanigans but he isn't strong enough because parents are drugging their kids with an anti dreaming pill, which in turn renders Freddy powerless. So, in order to manifest the juice to make it back by causing people to remember him, he enlists Jason Voorhees from Hell, brings him back from the dead so Jason will kill a bunch of kids in the Elm St. neighborhood. This will strengthen Freddy enough to come back and continue his trail of terror. Wow. As Freddy gets stronger, he realizes Jason isn't going to stop his killing spree on the Elm St. kids, which presents a problem because Freddy wants to kill those kids himself. In other words, this entire premise is a set up so Freddy and Jason can have a giant fight. Meanwhile, a few of the kids figure out what's happening and attempt to stop both Freddy and Jason. There is a good cast of decent actors this time around which is helpful. Too bad the script isn't up to par with the on screen talent. Not the worst by far, but still somewhat disappointing when you know this could have been special. 6 out of 10.

Friday The 13th (2009) - Reboot? Reimagining? Continuation? A bit of all these things I guess. A group of campers are near the abandoned Camp Crystal Lake. The legend is that there were a series of brutal killings here decades earlier. One of the campers is Amanda Righetti from the Mentalist show. She's a good actress. You know this movie can't be all bad when it features Night Ranger's "Sister Christian" for some unknown reason not 10 minutes in. But that doesn't mean it's good either. A machete wielding Jason soon makes an appearance and begins downsizing the group of campers. A pair of the campers wander off and find a mysterious rundown shack in the woods. The home of Jason Voorhees. Move ahead 6 weeks and Jared Palecki from Gilmore Girls and Supernatural shows up on the scene. His sister was one of the campers and they are all officially "missing." His name is Clay and he is canvasing the area passing out flyers of his missing sister. At the gas station he runs into a group of rich kids on their way to stay at rich douchebag number 1's parents vacation cabin. They soon discover there is no cell phone reception in the area. Never a good sign when that happens in a horror movie. Danielle Panabaker from Flash also appears and this is actually quite a good cast of talented actors. Part 12 incorporates many good elements from the other movies but it just should have been so much better than the end result. It is lacking a few areas that I truly enjoy in my slashers. It is filmed rather dark and muddy, and I kind of like bright and colorful scenery in these. I guess I feel it gives a much starker contrast when the killer strikes or something. The script kind of plods along in places and drags a bit as well. A few other things I found bothersome include Jason doesn't feel like Jason. He is portrayed more like Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre, or the redneck mutants from the Wrong Turn series. At times he is almost Ninja Jason. The biggest thing that bugs me is that Jason runs in this movie. Jason isn't suppose to run. The victims are suppose to run. They should be running at top speed while Jason is shown walking after them. Always walking, yet he catches up to them to do his business. That is what Jason does. He does not run! Blasphemy!Final problem I have with this film is that it just isn't scary. That can be a problem when a horror movie isn't scary. I don't mean to totally slog on this cuz I enjoyed it. It just squandered a lot of potential to be great. I guess I would give this one a 6.

I considered attempting to run through the Friday The 13th TV Series as well and include that along with this post, but that is a big project and will have to wait for a future time.
Friday The 13th is a great series of movies overall. My favorite by far is the second one. Classic slasher fare. If they continue to put these out I will continue to watch them, even if they suck. I guess that makes me a sucker for Friday The 13th. I enjoyed going through these again. Captain Creepy hopes everyone has a very wonderful Friday The 13th.

Movie Spotlight - "EXISTS"

As someone that has seen many movies about sasquatch, I know that making a good one can be somewhat of a "big feat" (heehee). When I saw the trailer for Exists online I thought it looked great and I pre-ordered it as soon as it was possible. This movie is directed by Eduardo Sanchez, the director of The Blair Witch Project. Exists is another in the seemingly endless line of found footage style movies that have overtaken the genre since Blair Witch.
So here we go. A group of five young people are heading into the heavy thicket of East Texas to spend some time at Uncle Bob's isolated cabin deep in the woods. As they are making their way down the two track in the dark they clip something with their vehicle. They get out to investigate and find a broken headlight and grill, some blood, and some hair. Howling is heard in the distance. They had been filming each other while riding in the car, out of boredom, and they decided to play back the footage to see if whatever it was that they hit may show up on the footage. Just for a split second you can see a large creature as the car passes by. None of them seem to recognize that this is obviously a bigfoot. One of the characters is a stoner that has all kinds of cameras and recording equipment with him, and evidently he plans on recording their weekend of fun and making youtube videos of their shenanigans. He reveals that 8 years ago Uncle Bob abandoned his cabin after being scared nearly to death by an encounter with something in the woods. The movie proceeds at a snails pace for some time before ratcheting up the excitement a little. Good creepy atmosphere is attained as the group realizes they are being stalked by an angry beast and they are far from civilization and cell phone reception. That night, the beast destroys their car, leaving them stranded and terrified at good old Uncle Bob's hunting cabin. They did bring a couple of mountain bikes with them and they decide that one of them is going to ride for help, or at least until he can get some reception on his phone and make contact with the world.
Evidently Bigfoot doesn't like bikes much.
Things progress as you have seen in a hundred other similar movies. The good news is that the filmmakers know what they are doing, and even though this isn't an original concept and it brings nothing new to the table, it is fairly well executed and effective. Escalating tension is created and there are jump scares at all the right places. The characters all seem throw away to me though. I felt no connection or empathy for any of the people, but still the movie succeeds for me. The monster is heard far more than it is seen, at first just a glimpse or a silhouette is shown, but as time goes on we begin to be allowed to see the creature more and more as the human cast dwindles at the hands of the fearsome beast. When we are allowed to see the beast it is cool. They did a great job on the effects as this is one of the most legit looking Bigfoot creatures I have seen. No new ground is broken here, it's plain and simple a monster movie. A creature feature.  Of course the nice part about that fact is that I happen to love creature features, and I found Exists to be a fun little ride. The twist to the story was obvious early on, and I must admit I was kind of hoping to discover that the Sasquatch was just looking for some Jack's Links Beef Jerky. Now that would have been a nice little twist. If you dig movies of this type, this is a fun one. Pop some popcorn and grab a seat on the couch for a nice little Saturday afternoon at the movies. I'm glad that Exists exists.

Movie Spotlight - BLOOD GLACIER

I love it when I come across a hidden gem of a movie that I don't know anything about. Blood Glacier is a perfect example of this type of discovery. A German film that is also known as "The Station," the general storyline is that there is a climate observation station up in an extremely isolated area in the Alps, where scientists are studying the melting of the glaciers and its effects on the environment. They discover a glacier with red liquid running through it and the scientists are baffled as to what is going on. What they begin to piece together is that as the ice is melting, the red liquid, or glacier blood, spreads throughout the environment. As animals drink water from the melted ice, it causes mutations to occur, some of them innocuous, others not so much. A fox that drank some of the water begins growing a mutated version of insects it had ingested, that eventually pop out of its stomach in true Alien type fashion. Soon, our intrepid band of scientists find themselves battling all sorts of strange creatures, including a giant demonic looking mountain goat.
I watched the dubbed version of this rather than the subtitled one, and of course at times that can lead to unusual dialog as they try to match up the words with the movements of the mouth. It was fairly well done and was not distracting to me whatsoever. Something that I rather like about this movie is the fact that the group of scientists actually look like regular people. Let's face it, it this were an American film every one of the cast members would be about 25 years old and look like a model for Tommy Hilfiger. Blood Glacier features a much more realistic looking cast. The main character, named Janek, is a 40 something year old, short, mostly bald dude. The rest of the cast is similar, including a short 60 year old lady as the Environmental Minister that is visiting the station. She actually has one of the best lines I have heard in a movie in a long time. An absolute classic. As the group is holed up inside the station, trying to figure out a way to ward off the attacks of the mutated creatures, there is a character that is very upset and is attempting to eat. She is struggling to peel a piece of fruit and the Minister lady swoops over to her and screams in her face, "Stop eating that banana while you're crying!" It is a line that just came out of nowhere and is incredibly ridiculous and perfect.
Blood Glacier had definite similarities to "John Carpenter's The Thing" but is different enough to not be  a rip off of that classic. Cinematography is well done, the movie is well made, well acted, and worth a watch. If you are interested in horror/science fiction hybrids that creep along at their own pace then hit you with giant mutated animals trying to kill everybody, Blood Glacier just might be for you. It's available on Netflix streaming. Check it out.

TV Talk and Tidbits

There are many shows on the tube these days that I enjoy. Here is a little rundown of a few random thoughts on some of them.

American Horror Story - I watched the first three seasons of AHS on Netflix. Season 1 is okay, but I didn't love it. It is the story of a troubled couple and their teenage daughter that move to a house in L.A. They get this sweet mansion for a bargain price because it is known as the murder house (for legitimate reason) and it is haunted to the max. There are many twists and turns and high spots during the season, but overall it didn't totally click for me on some level. The cast is outstanding however, featuring Dylan McDermott, Connie Britton, Zach Quinto, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters (Quicksilver from the X-Men Days of Future Past), and Taissa Farmiga. The highlight throughout all three seasons I have watched is Jessica Lange. This season she portrays the next door neighbor that is a failed Hollywood actress and is full of countless secrets and surprises. She is a powerhouse and chews through scenes like there is no tomorrow.
 Season 2 is awesome. Totally loved that season. Set in an asylum in the early 60's that is filled with wild characters and crazy situations. A young dudes wife is presumed dead and he is thought to have murdered her. Then he is believed to be a mass killer nicknamed Bloody Face. He is sent to a former tuberculosis asylum called Briarcliff that is now being run by the Catholic Church. Specifically, by Jessica Lange as the head Nun. Possession, alien abduction, a Nazi mad scientist war criminal, zombies, evil nuns, a serial killer. Great stuff! It is extremely dark and moody. The tonal quality of the entire season is perfect. James Cromwell joins the cast and plays the former Nazi scientist with aplomb. Definitely a 10 out of 10.
 Season 3 about the Coven is good. Loved it. Not as good as season 2 but still damn good and worth your time. Taissa Farmiga returns as a teenage girl that starts to display her powers as a witch. Her mother knows this is a trait in her family and sends her daughter to New Orleans, where an exclusive girls prep school is secretly a front for a witches coven training center. Jessica Lange is the "supreme", top dog of the coven. Great casting, great setting, great tone. Enjoyable.
The cool thing about American Horror Story is that each season is a completely different story, in a different setting, but they return actors from season to season playing other roles. It's a very nice concept and is always fun to see when an actor from an earlier season returns.

Gotham - Off to a great start. Looks to me like Gotham will be on for a few seasons. Not perfect, but perfectly enjoyable and entertaining. Set in the days when Bruce Wayne's parents have just been murdered, it's the tale of Jim Gordon's start as a cop in Gotham City. There is no Batman, but the groundwork is being set. Also, the dude that plays the Penguin nails that role so good, and Angel from Dexter is killing it as a mob boss.

The Librarians - I get a kick out of the Librarian movies that TNT has put out sporadically over the last several years but wasn't sure how it would turn out when I heard they were making it into a series. Well, come to find out it turns out quite nicely. While the movies were light hearted fun adventuring, a bit of Indiana Jones lite, they tweaked the concept for the series and it works. With a great cast including Rebecca Romijn and John Laroquette, and featuring Max Headroom as an ongoing villain. They took Noah Wyle's Librarian character and changed him from Indiana Jones to more of a Doctor Who. Not totally original I admit, but lots of fun. Wyle, playing the Librarian Flynn Carson, is given a new "Guardian", his personal bodyguard and companion. Rebecca Romijn is a government agent that is recruited and thrust into this role. Instead of a single Librarian, a crew of
other people with great abilities and potential is brought together to be trained in what it takes to fill that job. Through a series of bizarre incidents, the Library is lost and Flynn must go off the grid to retrieve it. The result is that the Guardian must take the team of newbies and travel the world filling the capacity of the Librarian. Working out of an annex run by John Laroquette as the mysterious yet always helpful Jenkins, they travel through portals obtaining artifacts to be stored at the Library, in the truest of Warehouse 13 style. Basically a mix of Warehouse 13 with a dash of Doctor Who. Good stuff and worth checking out.

NCIS New Orleans - Good show. Scott Bakula is all right. I'm not a huge fan of Bakula, but I am a huge fan of Lucas Black, the co star, otherwise known as the kid from Slingblade and American Gothic, and the X Files movie. He's cool, and the show is as well. I don't think this series has the long term legs like NCIS, but at this point it is better than NCIS Los Angeles.

NCIS - Gibbs and his crew are rolling along, very formulaic, but what the Hell, so is my life. Two thumbs up.

Sleepy Hollow - I watch every episode of Sleepy Hollow but it isn't my favorite by far. I like it, it's ok. I like the idea of the show better than the actual execution of the concept. We will see what happens in the second half of season 2. I feel that the problem may be that originally Sleepy Hollow was meant to be a mini series, did fairly well, and they kept going with it. Maybe they don't know exactly what to do with the story. Ichabod Crane is real, and he is alive in the current times, teamed up with a cop trying to stop the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and lots of other stuff. I'm hanging in there with it.

Constantine - John Constantine is a great character. He is a drunken, chain smoking, cussing all the time angry British guy, that also happens to be an occult investigator and practitioner of the magical arts. For this tv show, they had to tame him down some, but he is still pretty cool. Many comic fans have bitched and complained about this show. I think it's really good. I like it a lot. A bit of the Dresden Files mixed with a touch of Supernatural. Is Constantine's sidekick Zed going to turn out to be Zatanna? I hope so. They even employed some story concepts from Constantine's Hellblazer comic from 25 years ago. Pulling for a second season but it doesn't look like that is gonna happen. Oh well, I will watch it while I still can. Not every show can be the best ever, but that doesn't mean it's not worthwhile.

Agents of Shield - This season has been excellent! Can't wait for it to return from hiatus. Shield continues to get better and better. It seems Phil Coulson and his band of merry miscreants have found their groove and the "Skye" is the limit (see what I did there?).

Agent Carter - The mini series filling the Agents of Shield time slot currently has been amazing. Peggy Carter was Captain America's girl, and a top notch agent during WWII. Now the war has ended and the Captain is gone and Peggy is assigned to a civilian unit that just views her as a girl in a mans world, relegated to making coffee and hanging around the office. But Peggy is much more than that, and this series is going to prove it.The tone and feel of the time period is cool as all get out. And it keeps adding layers to the overall Marvel movie universe.

Ascension - This was a two part syfy channel mini series that didn't set my hair on fire but was a nice diversion for a few hours. Rather decent sci fi story, the kind of thing that the syfy network needs to do more of. 50 years ago the ship Ascension was launched on a 100 year mission into the unknown. They have been traveling through space, living their lives, evolving into a different culture than what is going on here on Earth. Or have they? Seek out Ascension to find the answers.

Arrow - Catching up on season 2 on Netflix. Love it. Don't love the CW teen angst type part, but that is what you are gonna get on this network. Overall a show that I always look forward to watching. Oliver Queen's character of  "Arrow" is actually a lot closer to the character of Batman than it is to Green Arrow, but that's okay. Stephen Amell is top notch as Ollie, and they have brought in many interesting bits and pieces from DC Comics. The Suicide Squad, Amanda Waller, and my favorite, Deathstroke. Manu Bennett is the man as Slade Wilson. I hope this series continues for many years and continues to grow the mythology of Arrow.

The 100 - Watched season 1 on Netflix. Again, very CW with the young adult drama, but it has been growing on me throughout the season. I started watching this because I thought the story premise sounded intriguing and that turned out to be the case. Good science fiction. A hundred years ago or so, the earth was devastated by nuclear war, there were people sent to a space station known as the Ark. Something like 2500 people live on the Ark, but now its life support systems are starting to fail,and soon everyone there will die. They decide to send 100 good looking young juvenile delinquents (really) to earth as a kind of scout team, to find out if it is habitable, and if it is, to restart civilization there. Lots of monkey wrenches are thrown into the mix, and the result is far better than I was expecting it to be. Very good show and I look forward to continuing on with the series.

A few other shows that I will soon be checking out include;
Flash - All the episodes are on my dvr. Trying to catch up a bit more on Arrow before jumping into Flash. Everyone says its really good.

Z Nation - Saw a few episodes on syfy and they were cool. Now it's on Netflix and I will be diving into this show very soon.

Helix - Same scenario as Z Nation.

12 Monkeys - Another new series on syfy. Suppose to be quite good. Episodes are on the dvr, just waiting for a little free time to check them out.

Also need to check out Josh Gates new show, Expedition Unknown. Always liked Josh Gates and Destination Truth.
So yes I have been watching a bit of tv lately, and there is much more on the horizon, and in the queue, and on the dvr. Have fun, and go watch some tv!

MOVIE MUSINGS - A Creepy New Year - Top Ten Movies of 2014

Once again, this is just a list of my top ten favorite new movies of 2014. If I didn't see it, I can't rate it. Here we go;

10. Hunger Games 2 - Catching Fire. I enjoy the Hunger Game movies. Not life changing, but good fun. This one came out at the end of 2013, but I saw it at the theater in January 2014, so it still counts. Also saw part three this year, but I liked the action at the games in part two better than the more political aspects of part three.

9. Oculus - Slow burner creepfest. Most people hated it, not me. Very cool.

8. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty - This one was a total surprise to me. Went to see it at the local $2 theater, not expecting much of anything, and was shocked to watch an outstanding film that made me cry. Maybe I was just on my period or something, not sure. Loved it.

7. Expendables 3 - Fun stuff. Love the ham fisted humor and overt ridiculousness of these movies. Dolph Lundgren is so cool. Pure fun. I hope they continue making these forever.

6. Amazing Spiderman 2 - Lots of good and bad in this movie. Love when Spidey is in the suit. Jamie Foxx character of Electro is terrible to the point of embarrassing. Still very fun and enjoyable popcorn flick.

5. Annabelle - Very creepy. Love the setting and style. Well done old style horror. Fun for the whole family. Now we need a Robert the Haunted Doll movie.

There is a big separation right here as we move to the top four of the year. The top four were all so good that any of them could have been my top movie of the year.

4. John Wick - I never would have imagined Keanu Reeves as the Punisher, but that is what this movie is all about. Retired hitman that is out of the game gets robbed and his dog killed by Russian mobsters. Now he's back, and boy is he pissed. Total sleeper movie that I knew nothing about until going to see it. It is great!  Michael Nyqvist as Viggo the head of the Russian mob is amazing. A great actor in a great role. And for all you Keanu haters out there, and there are many, sorry to tell you that he is frickin' great as John Wick.

3. X-Men Days of Future Past - So damn good! Peter Dinklage as Bolivar Trask was worthy of an award. Michael Fassbender as Magneto is perfect. James McAvoy as a strung out Professor X. Evan Peters as Quicksilver. The time travel to the 70's. Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan. Great story, great execution. Absolutely love this movie!

2. Guardians of The Galaxy - Almost everyone on earth picked Guardians of The Galaxy as their favorite movie of 2014, and with good reason. It is awesome! The Star Wars for this generation no doubt. Action, humor, fun, sci fi, special effects, story, casting. It introduced characters to the general public that will be pop culture icons for many years in Rocket Raccoon and Groot. Chewbacca and R2D2 for modern kids.  Marvel has been killing it with their movies and GOTG is a home run. They couldn't have made a better movie....well, maybe one.

Captain Creepy's top movie of 2014 is

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier - My top movie of the year and one of the top movies of my life. Winter Soldier worked for me on every level. It is a spy movie with super hero action, friendship, patriotism, heroism, humor, guts, and grace. This movie moved me. It is the definition of epic and shows what can be done with a film placed in the right hands of creative people with a vision. F*** Hydra, Hail Captain America!

Honorable Mentions -
1. Godzilla is really good and could have placed as high as 6th or 7th on the list. They did a good job with the big fella.
2. As Above So Below is worthy of viewing. Messed up horror thriller.
3. Divergent is good for fans of the Hunger Games, Maze Runner, and that style of movie.
4. American Hustle. Wonky but cool.
5. The Hobbit movies are really hard for me to rate. I enjoy them very much, but yet feel disappointed by them at the same time. They should have completed the story in two movies instead of three. Martin Freeman is great as Bilbo Baggins but yet seems like a background character in the 3rd film. Stupid choice in my opinion. He is the character that the viewer relates to and we see the world thru his eyes. Instead we are given some weird love story that no one wants to see between the dwarf and the elf chick. That was terrible. Also Legolas is cool, but when he jumps on the falling stones like Super Mario I'm at a loss for words. What the Hell? So I guess The Hobbit could have made my top ten, but I didn't put it there because it baffled me. Still rates an Honorable Mention.

That leaves me with one final entry for the year in movies 2014. Worst movie of the year. Hands down the worst thing I saw with nothing else coming close - Anchorman 2. I loved Anchorman, but Anchorman 2 is so bad that it's unbelievable. It looked cheap, was not well acted, and I could write a better script if I was in a coma. What were they thinking? Total pile of turds.

Overall a great year for movies. As I stated, any of the top four on my list were worthy of movie of the year in Captain Creepy's eyes. Super duper stuff! Be happy and stay Creepy.