The week is half over and with it, the countdown to Scare-A-Cuse looms ever closer. For any of you living in upstate New York, this will be the areas first Horror, Sci-Fi and Paranormal convention. It will run from Friday September 9, 2011 until Sunday September 11, 2011 at the OnCenter Convention Center in Syracuse, New York.
Among the events will be a Ghost Hunters panel featuring Jason Hawes and Britt Griffith from the show Ghosthunters, cosplay, video game rooms, anime screening, a zombie dance on Saturday night and the Syracuse Horror, Science Fiction & Fantasy Film Festival.
Celebrities set to attend include:
Chaske Spencer- Famous for playing Sam Uley in the Twilight film series
Jason Hawes - Founder of The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS)
Britt Griffith - Members of TAPS
Sal Lizard - Comic, film producer and star in Hillbilly Bob Zombie and Next Door
Walter Koenig - Famous for playing Chekov on the original Star Trek
Adrienne Barbeau - Stared in films like The Fog and Creepshow
Reggie Bannister - Starred in the Phantasm films
Gigi Bannister - Special Effects Artist and star of Bloody Bloody Bible Camp
Cerina Vincent - Starred in Cabin Fever
Betsy Rue - Starred in Halloween II and Miss March
Ron Chaney - Great Grandson of Lon Chaney
Kyle Herbert - Voice Actor
Dustin Warburton - Screenwriter
Tickets are still on sale at their website and are priced as follows:
3-Day Student Pass - $20
3-Day Weekend Pass - $45
3-Day VIP Pass - $100
1-Day Pass Fri/Sun - $20
1-Day Pass Sat - $25
If you live near the Syracuse, New York area then come on out and enjoy the fun and excitement of the first Horror convention to ever hit the area. If you would like more information, it is available at the Scare-A-Cuse website by clicking here. Keep following here as we provide all the coverage we can of this great convention.
Well, the countdown is officially over. Dead Island has been released today and if you are like me you are very excited for the long trek ahead. This massive game has many zombies to kill and hidden secrets to find. With this in mind Deep Silver, in conjunction with Brady Games, is releasing an iPhone app retailing at $2.99 via the app store to coincide with the games release.
The app feature a detailed map of the island and all the areas and allows users to scroll around and zoom in on the map. Also shown on the map will be:
Locations of ID Cards
Locations of Banoi Herald Excerpts
Locations of Investigation Tapes
There will also be the ability to track objectives and listen to official music. If you are looking to unlock the secrets that Dead Island has to offer, then look no further than this app. Stayed tuned to the site as we provide you with our initial impressions and our in depth review later this week.
Those of you who have been following the site know that we are now in Day Three of our coverage leading up to next week's release of Dead Island from Deep Silver. Last month we showed you parts of the video that Gamesradar's team was working on in conjunction with Deep Silver. The video shows their experiences on the island and all the chaos and comedy that ensued. We only brought you a few of the videos, and now we are pleased to present you with the full, uncut video for Dead Island: Secret Origins. Enjoy the video and as always, stay tuned to Zombies & Toys as we continue to bring you coverage on this great game.
It is day two of our countdown coverage to the release of Dead Island and we have found some more greatness to share with you. Deep Silver, the makers of the game have taken it upon themselves to release some tracks of the official soundtrack to give us a taste of the mood to come. Scroll down and hear for yourself and prepare to visit Dead Island. Stay tuned for our continued coverage throughout this holiday weekend.
The final countdown has begun! In six days Dead Island will be unleashed upon the masses and we here at Zombies & Toys are excited for the release as much as all of you are. In the spirit of the release, Marvel has released a digital comic. Originally available as an exclusive at Comic Con it is now here for everyone to view. The comic is available here and helps shed a lot of light on the backstories of the four main characters that you can choose between. Stay tuned to our site as we will continue to give you as much information as we can get leading up to the release.
La Horde is a French Zombie movie clocking in at 92 minutes. The first thing I can think of when I recall this movie is its many similarities to some great George A Romero zombie movies of the past. This movie started slowly, almost to the point that I wanted to turn it off, but with patience, I found a great movie lying before me.
La Horde follows a tale of revenge. The opening begins with a shot of a man bound and gagged dead in a ditch as another man with a cross on his arm looks on. This in my mind is a great opening shot as it truly shows us the great setup to the story. What follows is a big funeral for the fallen man during which we hear of the plot for revenge. This group of police officers is planning on going to the office building occupied by the Nigerian crime lords that killed one of their own.
This setup generally feels reused, but the setup is great. We see that once they arrive and catch up to the crime lords that the brains and flesh literally hit the fan as the zombie arrive shortly after our crew is together. This is where the similarities to many George A Romero zombie movies start to show up. In this film the main focus, at least from what I saw, was on the characters and their interactions with one another, rather than the zombies themselves. We see great interactions where alliances are forged and broken, and brothers are sometimes even divided by the stress of the situation.
The great thing about this movie is that the box art that I saw advertised lots of blood and gore, and the film certainly does not disappoint in that aspect. From the initial zombie attack to the final scenes, there is enough blood and gore to satisfy zombie fans and gore hounds alike. The zombies in the world of La Horde are unrelentingly driven by their hunger for the brains and flesh of the living. We do not get an explanation for why or how they became zombies or where the epidemic began, rather, we are simply thrown in for the ride with the characters.
I think that this is where the movie shines. We are given no more hindsight or information than the characters that we are watching. As they have trouble, we are right there for the ride with them. We see authentic zombies, save for the fact that they run with a ferocity not seen since the dawn of the dead remake. There is an older man revealed halfway through the movie that brings a quirkiness and charm to the movie that the other characters just do not show.
Some downfalls prevent this movie from being perfect. I am unsure whether it was my copy of the film or the company itself, but I found instances where major grammatical errors showed up in the subtitles along with changes to character names and many misspellings or misplaced words. This is minor; it is just an issue that is hopefully fixed in future pressings. While I did not have a problem with it, some fans will have a problem with the running zombies, as they are very unauthentic, at least in the eyes of Max Brooks or George A Romero. I also seem to get a bit annoyed when I watch a movie where the characters do not realize they are dealing with zombies, resulting in much wasted energy and ammunition.
Downfalls aside this is still a great movie, and a must watch for anybody who is a fan of classic zombie movies that put characterization and plot right alongside the gore. The movie moves quickly after a rather dull beginning and finishes on the energy of the second and third acts of the film. There is a part in the film where one of the characters is surrounded on a car by over 50 zombies. During this time, he utters the line “Eat me, you bastards” signifying his final stand against the hordes and the defensive position, he is taking in his final stand to protect the others. I would like to say that if the film could speak it would say, “Watch me, you bastards” and would be well within its right to say that. This is a finely crafted film and a must watch. Do not hesitate to pick this up, even with the small defects.
