This being the most wonderful time of the year, I thought I might share with you a kick ass non-gaming podcast devoted to the horror genre.  I accidentally discovered this podcast last summer while searching for zombie stuff for my kid’s birthday party.  Of course with a name like “Drunken Zombies” I just had to check it out. 

Brian, Dave, Uncle Randy and Wes are from Illinois and each week they watch a review a scary movie or two.  Eerily there are some similarities between the Drunken Zombies and the Drunken Gamers.  Of course they both drink, swear like sailors, and are funny as shit, but the similarities go deeper than that. 

First, these guys are real, they let let you know exactly what they think about a movie.  If it sucks, they will let you know, and I for one appreciate that.  Second, they have a love for the classics and the old-school way of filming horror movies.  They feel that CG takes center screen too often and they yearn for the more films using makeup and latex to gross you out.   

Third, like our friends the Drunken Gamers, they are experts in the genre that they love.  While dissecting a Cronenburg movie like The Fly, we glean deep insights into themes and social commentary that quite frankly I missed.  For fans of the genre, it’s quite fun to listen to. And lastly, the Drunken Zombies have a cast of crazed, and often hilarious fans.  For a while they had a caller deemed “The Pervert” who could easily put Phenri and Fluffy Nuts to shame.  Weekly reports from a horror aficionado named “Lord Blod-Rah” gives us a glimpse into horror movie  history; it’s well produced, fun, and provides cool horror trivia for parties.

So if you’re wanting to get a deeper look into things that go bump in the night.  Check out the Drunken Zombies, and prepare for a good time. 

http://drunkenzombie.com/blog/

[NOTE: Ryker's going to take over SHOCKtober! today. -John]

When I was a kid, my Dad would often let me stay up and watch the classic Universal horror movies with him.  They were on after midnight and we would eat popcorn and watch the classics.  Dracula, The Wolfman, Frankenstein, they all scrared the living bejesus out of me.  When I was older, movies like Halloween and Aliens scared me so bad I couldn’t sleep for weeks.  Since then I have come to enjoy the rush that comes from a really good scary movie.  It’s kinda like a really good roller coaster; the good ones stick with you for quite sometime and make you yearn for even scarier ones.   Sadly, most horror films I see aren’t so much scary as they are shocking or disturbing.  Don’t get me wrong, they are fun and all, but my quest for the really scary movies continued. 

That’s partly why I was so excited when I heard about Paranormal Activity, the new handheld camera horror film from Paramount.  All the reports that I had heard about the film was it was scary as all get out, and I am happy to report that these reports (at least for me) are TRUE! 

Paranormal Activity is the story of a young urban couple from San Diego who are having some strange occurances in their home.   Micah hopes to catch whatever is haunting his girlfriend Katie on film.  So he sets up a high-end camera up in their bedroom and lets it capture all night long to his PC.  Much like an episode of Ghost Hunters, we watch as the camera films events as they sleep the night away. 

Of course, things  intensify and Katie calls in a psychic to tell her what he senses.  It’s here we learn that Katie has had this haunting follow her since she was young and the psychic fears that they are not dealing with a poltergeist or mischievous spirit, but something far more dangerous.  He warns them not to get a Ouji board and not to get angry at each other, such activities may make things worse.  Of course neither of them quite follow this advice and the tension builds as what is caught on camera intensifies.  Director Oren Peli is so good at building this tension that the last fifteen minutes of this film was one of the most frightening experiences I have ever had in the movie theater. 

The obvious comparison that people are making right now is this the next Blair Witch Project.  While both use handheld cameras and had great viral marketing campaigns, the similarities stop right there.  Paranormal Activity doesn’t pretend to be some true story of events that happened; everybody knows that it’s a film.  The acting in Blair Witch was spotty at best and we never really felt like what we were watching was real.  Furthermore, the scares were few and far between and what payoffs we did get were, well, lame at best. 
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Newsflash…This just in…  MEGAN FOX IS HOT!!!  That’s right, Megan Fox is HOT!  And her hotness and all its glory is on full display in her latest film “Jennifer’s Body.”  Thankfully, her hotness alone is not the only reason you should run out and enjoy this film.

The story (Oh wait…there’s a story…did we need one?) centers on two young girls who have been friends since they were kids.  Jennifer Check (Megan Fox) is the hot cheerleader being chased by all the boys, while her nerdy friend Anita “Needy” Lesnicki (Amanda Seyfried) tags along wherever Jennifer goes.  There is a familiar, sexual tension in their friendship, and they even wear matching “Best Friend Forever” lockets around their necks.  Even Anita’s boyfriend Chip (Johnny Simmons) references how unusual it is. 

Jennifer talks Anita into going to a local bar to see some band from the city.  Jennifer flirts with the lead singer while Anita is cautious of his real intentions.  Anita fears that he wants to use Jennifer for his own sexual pleasure, but his real intentions as a worshiper of Satan are far worse.  Disaster strikes the event and Jennifer is whisked away in the band’s van.  Anita fears what may happen, and later that night Jennifer returns home covered in blood and spewing some black ferromagnetic fluid.  Yes something is VERY wrong with Jennifer.

While the school copes with the loss of the students who attended the show, Jennifer seems non-remorse.  In fact she is even more full of herself and on the prowl for guys.  She entices the star running back into the woods behind the field to help him cope with the loss of his friend.  She seduces him, gets naked (Did I say naked…well the really good stuff is still covered but the tease is just about as good, if not better) and…she eats him.  What follows next is a series of random boys disappearing while Anita desperately tries to figure out what happened to her BFF.  And when Anita finally DOES figure out what is going on, will Jennifer allow her friend to exist, or does she become her next meal?

“Jennifer’s Body” was written by Diablo Cody who is best known for her work on the film “Juno.”  Juno’s success is that it didn’t treat the teenagers in the movie as hapless stereotypes, but rather they were real people struggling with the challenges of growing up.  Cody brings a similar vibe to this movie, which on the surface is a teen movie.  It has a teen soundtrack, teen stereotypes, and deals with teen issues.  A running theme throughout the movie is female friendships, their strengths, and awkwardness.  I mean how can women love each other one day and then completely hate them the next?  There is even a scene where Anita and Jennifer “experiment” with these feelings.  That’s right, we get an AWESOME experimenting scene (F YEAH!!!) that, dare I say, is tastefully done. 

Cody tells her story from the perspective of Anita.  She narrates most of the film and I for one kinda dig that style of storytelling; it almost breaks that fourth wall for the audience.  She also adds a great deal of humor to the script, a necessary ingredient to a successful teen horror flick. 

Director Karyn Kusama doesn’t try any weird looking angled shots, or give us anything more than what we really need.  What she does give us is a lot, and I mean A LOT of Megan Fox.  Kusama knows that a large percentage of folks going to see this movie are going simply to gawk at Megan Fox.  So scene after scene we are treated to Ms. Fox as she teases us; showing  just enough to make us want more.  I wondered halfway through if Megan Fox was a good actress; she seems to hold the role quite well but she’s never really stretches herself.  But then again, WHO THE F CARES she’s smoking hot! 

I honestly didn’t expect this movie to be as good as it was.  It was clever, well written, and had a pretty kick ass ending.  I will say that for us horror fans, it wasn’t very scary.  But in the end I didn’t mind, I was simply having too much fun to care.

Just released the other day, a new trailer for the latest “let’s remake the 1980′s in every way” effort is up for your perusal. It’s the remake of the original Friday the 13th and, honestly, it doesn’t look half bad. Of course, as soon as I saw Michael Bay’s name attached to this movie, I automatically figured the movie would suck. And it could very well be terrible but I’m holding out hope that it’ll be worth seeing.

I guess I would remiss in not asking the obvious “do we really need another one?” question, so I’ll just throw it out there and let you all discuss.

So, check it out my friends. Let us know what you think!

It’s our favorite time of year! Halloween approaches and John, Moe, Hilden and Christine sit down to talk about their favorite horror movies!

After Hours 14: Horror Movies