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.