ADDITIONS TO THE DEXTER CONTEST!!!

Some late prize additions thanks to the generous folks at Showtime.
First Prize now wins;
DEXTER Season 1
The soundtrack to the show
and a I Love DEXTER! button.

Second prize wins the Season 1 Box

Now there is a third prize;
an I Love DEXTER! Button.

Time is running out to get those entries in so start writing!

"Come here boy!" The story of FIDO

The world has won the Zombie Wars and ZOMCON does its finest to make sure we all stay safe and sound contained rather comfortably withing gated cities and towns. Zombies still reign free outside the protective fencing in the Wild Zones, but we've nothing to fear since the ideas of rogue living dead have become much of a thing of the past thanks to advances in Zombie captive technology! That's right, you too can be the very proud owner of a 'pet' walking deceased as long as you maintain the electro-collar around his or her neck to uphold its docile nature! It's the mid-fifties and life is peachy, giddy, and happy-go-lucky especially when Timmy Robinson (K'Sun Ray) finally gets a zombie just like everyone else in his neighborhood. Sure, apprehensive at first, Timmy finally finds what's missing in his own father, Bill, (Dylan Baker) in the newly-named Fido (Billy Connolly), the kindly animated corpse. Teaching Fido to do ordinary things like throwing and catching a ball or mowing the lawn proves to be a bit daunting, but when it comes to protecting Timmy from school bullies, Fido is the best body guard money can literally buy. Timmy's mom, Helen (Carrie-Anne Moss) turns her jealous desires to fit in within the zombie-owning elite into more of a motherly-turn-attraction for her new un-dead friend and has no qualms about showing it off to her lackluster spouse. Fido becomes so much a part of the family that it becomes a heart-breaking moment when he must be taken away because of a few 'accidental' deaths caused by his hands. Local ZOMCON law enforcer, Mr. Bottoms (played with snide abandon by the excellent Henry Czerny) spends his days trying to convince the Robinson's that befriending a zombie will eventually lead to trouble since, regardless of their collar, things can, and, inevitably do, happen. Timmy decides to enlist the aid of former ZOMCON employee and neighbor, Mr. Theopolis (Tim Blake Nelson) in order to rescue his best friend from the clutches of the more sinister than all together good company. The end is a bit melancholy as Bill Robinson ends up dying in the face of a battle, but everything works out fine with Fido becoming a full-fledged member of the family.

Sure, comedy in zombie flicks has been around for quite a while, what with Dead/Alive, Shaun of the Dead, and a host of others, you'd think that the gamut has for all intents and purposes been run... right into the ground. Then along comes FIDO, a movie so naturally heart-warming and fun you'd almost forget you were watching a spawn of the horror genre all together, were it not for the minor bits of gore ere and there. Obviously borrowing heavily from the LASSIE films of the same 'time period', FIDO learns, acts, and otherwise behaves almost as though he were a dog instead of a lumbering alive again stiff. Never once does Billy Connelly (phenomenal as the zombie, by the way) utter a single word, relying instead on barely emoted grunts and perfected eye motions to convey his little bits of happiness or anger. The humor in genuine and innocent, and you really do feel bad for Fido when he happens to murder and consume a few people who were disliked anyway. And when he's taken away in the ZOMCON truck, gripping the iron bars like a lost child, it stings just enough. Find out just how fantastic FIDO is for yourself, whether you're a horror fan or not, this movie is a top-ten for sure.

Stew Miller

DEXTER SEASON ONE CONTEST!!!

The lovely folks over at SHOWTIME have seen fit to let us give away two copies of DEXTER Season One. I thought we should make it an essay contest.
First, the rules.
If you write for Penguin Comics you are ineligible to win. You may participate but it will just be for fun.
All final desicions will be by me and me only.
The contest begins as soon as you finish reading this and ends on October 31st.
And let's kepp it under 500 words, shall we?
THE THEME
Who is your favorite serial killer and why? For the purposes of this game we will only use actual serial killers, fictional ones are ineligible.
Email all entries to;
dwaltz1962@yahoo.com
entries must be in the body of the email. Any email with attachments will be deleted without opening it. The top two winners will have their essay printed here for the world to see.
GOOD LUCK TO ALL AND HAVE FUN WITH IT!

FULCI LIVES!!!

Well, sort of. Read on to the announcement from Severin Films;

TWO LOST CLASSICS BY LUCIO FULCI ON DVD FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER NOVEMBER 13TH


Long-Unseen THE PSYCHIC And THE EROTICIST Considered Most Unique And Celebrated Works By Controversial Italian Filmmaker
LOS ANGELES, CA, – Severin Films announces the DVD premieres of two of Lucio Fulci’s most sought-after films, the suspense thriller THE PSYCHIC and his politically incendiary sex comedy THE EROTICIST. Both films have been fully restored for the first time ever in America.
More than a decade after his death, Lucio Fulci remains one of the most infamous and misunderstood talents in international cinema history. His films encompassed art house hits (1969’s BEATRICE CENCI), American-made mysteries (PERVERSION STORY, also available from Severin) and acclaimed adventure epics (1973’s WHITE FANG). By the mid ‘80s, Fulci became best known for such hallucinatory horror epics as ZOMBIE and THE BEYOND, which would define the era of EuroGore excess. Both THE PSYCHIC and THE EROTICIST are considered to be among Fulci’s most rare and accomplished works.
Never released in America, 1972’s THE EROTICIST – also known as THE SENATOR LIKES WOMEN – was based on the true story of a prominent Christian senator accused of serial fondling. Fulci’s surreal comedy ignited a firestorm of controversy throughout Italy with its blasphemous depictions of perverted politicians, lascivious nuns (including sexy ‘70s star Laura Antonelli) and a death squad of Vatican Cardinals led by blacklisted American actor Lionel Stander. Initially banned and heavily censored throughout Europe, the film remained Fulci’s personal favorite of his career. Severin’s DVD presentation includes an all-new featurette that documents the film’s scandalous history, including interviews with cast and crew.
Fulci’s 1977 thriller THE PSYCHIC stars Jennifer O’Neill of SUMMER OF ’42 and SCANNERS fame as a clairvoyant tormented by visions of a murder that might be her own. Also known as SEVEN NOTES IN BLACK, the film was acclaimed worldwide for its daring suspense sequences and ingenious final twist. Longtime PSYCHIC fan Quentin Tarantino had unsuccessfully attempted to re-release the film in the mid-‘90s under his Miramax/Rolling Thunder banner, and portions of the film’s main orchestral theme would later appear in KILL BILL VOLUME 1. Severin’s presentation of THE PSYCHIC restores footage removed for its American release and includes an exclusive featurette recounting the film’s production.
Severin Films was formed in May 2006. The label, with offices in Los Angeles and London, is dedicated to unearthing, restoring and releasing the most provocative and controversial erotic and arcane features from around the world. The company’s previous releases include the unrated director’s cut of GWENDOLINE starring Tawny Kitaen, EuroSleaze auteur Jess Franco’s classics MACUMBA SEXUAL, THE INCONFESSABLE ORGIES OF EMMANUELLE and THE SEXUAL STORY OF O, Walerian Borowczyk’s art cinema sensation IMMORAL WOMEN, and the 4-disc limited edition collection BLACK EMANUELLES BOX.

DAMNATION CRUSADE

I can remember my first encounter with the Warhammer 40K Universe. I bought a board game called SPACE HULK. I loved that game. I played it for hours, glued the little pieces together, painted the figures. Of course I was a newbie so my paint schemes weren't proper, but I thought they were great. My biggest problem was painting the Genestealers. They wanted them all the same color. Bah! I had a Spawn colored one a red white and blue one and...well, you get the idea. After that I learned of the bigger picture and knew that I had neither the cash or patience to get involved in that madness. I am a big fan of the computer game Chaos Gate, but that's as far as it gets.
Now the fine folks at BOOM! Studios have given us a trade paper back and hardcover of their Warhammer 40K series DAMNATION CRUSADE.
DAMNATION CRUSADE chronicled a man by the name of Raclaw who becomes one of The Black Templars in service of the emperors Space Marines.
This series oozes Warhammer with every pore. The cool body armor, the bigger mechs and their nightmarish opponents. It's all there. Written by Dan Abnett and Ian Edginton with gorgeous illustrations by Lui Antonio this is a volume that any true fan of serious space opera and Warhammer 40K fans in particular will need to have in their collection

BRAIN DEAD WINNER OF 1ST ANNUAL LARRY STANLEY BEST 'B' MOVIE AWARD!!

We are please to have been able to present to BRAIN DEAD the 1st Annual LARRY STANLEY BEST “B” MOVIE AWARD at ShockerFest 2007. Our Thanks go to Patti Stanley, and the other friends of Larry’s that were in attendance.

We would like to invite all of you to attend the 2007 recap meeting (and the 1st planning session for 2008) to be held tonight, October 11 at the Heroes Sports Lounge, corner of 9th and L Streets, Modesto , CA

One of the items on the agenda will be the Larry Stanley Memorial Scholarship. Contributions to this fund should be made to Fireside Foundation, Inc., PO Box 580450 , Modesto , CA 95358 . Please make checks payable to the Foundation, but note that it is for the Scholarship fund.

Please let me know if you will be able to attend.

Thank you

George Baker
209-537-5221

REAPER: Devilishly Good Fun

Sam (Bret Harrison) is stuck on the overnight shift at THE WORK BENCH, a warehouse similar to our own LOWE'S, where he has been banished to stock and inventory duty with his cohort, 'Sock' (Tyler Labine). However, it isn't all just counting nails and re-shelving gallons of paint. Oh no, Sam must also discover the way in which he must apprehend his next bounty with his most recent vessel: a remote-control 4x4. You see, in his world, Sam is just an ordinary slacker who loathes his job and spends his days attempting to hook up with another of his company friends, Andi (Missy Peregrym), while hanging out and doing worthless activities with his best friend, the equally lost 'Sock'. But, on the flip side of life, Sam works for the Devil ( Ray Wise) collecting lost souls as bounties and, via his daily 'weapon', sending them back to Hell. Fortunately the local DMV serves as the way station between worlds, so all is well.
Sock knows all about Sam's predicament and drops everything to help out in any way. A true testament to best friendship there. So, back at THE WORK BENCH, Sam realizes that the local black outs of late have been occurring because the escaped soul is back to wreak havoc on those folks in the town who have removed his once-good name from everything in the city, including the hospital. You see, the soul was a philanthropist at one time, but activities that turned him bad also landed him in hell where he was made to face punishment by being electrocuted all day long for eternity. And as the Devil said, "That can really get to some people."
And so goes episode two of the wonderfully skewed series, REAPER. A battle between good and evil on a scale here to for unseen on television and brought to life by the wonderful assistance of Kevin Smith. Sam has become such an homage to the slacker life style, both in his whiny attitude and his lackluster livelihood, that he almost becomes a voice for today's generation. Sure, he gets the job done, but only at the insistents that he is not right for the job. But somehow, the Devil sees more in him and occasionally sees to it that Sam always finds a way. Even so, the Devil still gets in his licks. Oh, and the remote control truck? turns out that the antenna was a lightening rod. Smart move.
Watch this series Wednesday on CW7. You will thank me later.
Stew

SUPER-VILLIAN TEAM-UP 1 (of 5)

So, went to the comic shop recently. For that full story read the Howard The Duck review below this one. This was the other comic I picked up. I loved Super-Villain Team-Up. It was an awesome idea. I seem to remember that DC did something similar. Secret Society of Super-Villains or some such thing, but Marvel's was better.
Seems that AIM is up to their old tricks again and have created MODOC. No, not MODOK, MODOC, Mental Organism Designed Only for Computing. Of course the process makes the recipient of this great power crazy and he soon has his own agenda to the detriment of AIM. This always happens so you wonder when AIM is going to quit trying this crap and get a clue. It's a little funny to watch how this MODOC keeps switching his name from Computing to Killing. Funny stuff.
Anyway, MODOK, I mean MODOC has got a plan up his sleeve that requires many super villians. We don't know what the plan is, probably get that next issue. For now we get the following line up of villains; Mentallo, Chameleon, Living Laser, Puma, Deadly Nightshade, Rocket Racer, Armadillo and someone I don't recognize named Spot. A group of widely different powers. I haven't kept up with the Marvel Universe so I have no idea why Rocket Racer is a stuttering idiot, but other than that it seems like a good group.
Now for the talent:
Fred Van Lente - Writer / Francis Portela - Pencils / Terry Pallot - Inker.
Okay, I know none of these people, but the art looks nice and the writing is up to snuff. I like the little quirk that MODOC has about switching his last initial from C to K. Pretty funny. Anything that starts with luchadores fighting is automatically good stuff and the rest of the comic is good. As good as a first issue set up can be. I did like the Mentallo vs The Purple Man showdown in Vegas. And the cute subtitle of MODOK's 11 playing on OCean's 11 is pretty good, too.
Now, if I just knew what the plan was. It sure reads like old school Marvel and for that I am completely grateful. About time they brought back what works.
+

HOWARD THE DUCK 1 (of 4)

I have always been a Howard fan. Heck, I even like the movie. Recently, I have been haunting the old comic shop. I bought the first issue of The Mice Templar and was hooked. Martha and I were out having Chinese food for lunch and I had the urge to look in Fanfare to see what was up. A lot of the racks left me cold or were too damned expensive. Then I spotted two new comics. Both were mini series and they were both favorites of mine from long ago. First was this one. Howard The Duck.
Howard is where he belongs. Cleveland, driving a cab while Bev tries to become famous. Howard is having dreams where he is playing poker with all the other monsters of The Marvel Universe. I thought this was pretty cool actually and was a little disappointed when it turned into a dream sequence. Howard has bigger issues though in the form of a couple of duck hunters named The Barrel Brothers. Seems they haven't been able to bag a trophy in their lives and now a duck is picking them up from the airport? It must be providence!
Let's run down the talent before we hit the critique, shall we?
Ty Templeton - Writer /Juan Bobillo - Penciler / Marcelo Sosa - Inker
I know who Templeton is and have a vague idea about that Bobillo fella. Never heard of the inker, sorry Marcelo. That being said it took me a minute to get used to Howard not looking like, well, Howard. The suit is gone. The hat is gone and the worst crime is that the cigar is gone. They may as well have castrated Howard. The face is all wrong. And they make Beverly Switzler out to be an idiot. Both unforgivable crimes in my book. But you know what? I've missed Howard and his sardonic wit. That little guy gets under your skin. Sure Gerber is credited with the creation of Howard, but does none of the creation duties here and that's a shame. The most recent six issue MAX mini series done by Gerber was a welcome return of our fowl mouthed friend. This, while still welcome fits like a bad pair of shoes. I will buy all of them. There will be no cigar because, let's face it, Marvel Comics is run by a group of milksop whiners. I love Howard The Duck. It's the only comic in my thirty plus years of buying comics that I ever subscribed to.
Welcome back Howard. I just wish Gerber was along for the ride.

RED IS THE COLOR OF Los Angeles Premiere

RED IS THE COLOR OF
LOS ANGELES PREMIERE AT THE LA FEMME FILM FESTIVAL
OCTOBER 13th, 2007
September 27, 2007, Beverly Hills, CA— Bear Island Films is proud to announce the Los Angeles premiere of feature film RED IS THE COLOR OF at the 3rd annual LA Femme Film Festival. The west coast premiere will take place at the Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills Saturday October 13, 2007 at 6pm with a RED themed cocktail reception proceeding at the FESTIVAL LOUNGE with cast and crew.
RED IS THE COLOR OF is a seductive romance/drama written and directed by Anne Norda. The tense marriage between two painters is disrupted when the husband’s provocative nude model ignites his wife’s sexual and spiritual awakening. In a three-way game of subtle seduction, each confronts unfulfilled desires and festering frustrations that threaten to destroy the illusions of their lives.
Mary Shaw’s (Irina Björklund) signature blood paintings have made her a celebrity in the art world. Meanwhile, her husband, David Stellar (Peter Franzén), can't get a single gallery to show his realistic nudes - they're just not "now" enough. But he refuses to change his style. Could it have anything to do with Julie Belle (Eliza Pryor Nagel), the sexy blue-eyed blonde he’s painting?
Curious about the new woman in David’s world, Mary takes Julie to see her artwork and they soon become fast friends. Fascinated by Julie’s free spirit and outrageous honesty, Mary finds in their relationship a deep level of intimacy, one that is seriously lacking in her marriage. Julie’s ambiguous sexuality and probing
questions lead Mary to reassess her carefully constructed existence. David fights to keep his marriage intact and to resist the temptations of Julie. As she emotionally intertwines with the couple, Julie’s façade of detachment crumbles and she wreaks havoc on all their lives. Out of this emotional chaos, in danger of losing everything that meant anything to her, Mary breaks through her past and discovers what it means to be truly free. RED IS THE COLOR OF stars famed Finnish actress Irina Björklund and actor Peter Franzén, Eliza Pryor Nagel, Cary DiPietro, Terry Tocantins, Lorenzo Caccialanza, and Marcello Robinson.
***Most of the cast will be available the night of the screening for press interviews***
This is Anne Norda’s first film to appear at the LA Femme Film Festival. The 2007 festival is between October 11th-14th, and its mission is to support and nurture the artistic entertainment productions of women for the benefit of an international and domestic audience.
For more information on the film RED IS THE COLOR OF please visit www.redisthecolorof.com.
Cocktail Reception Premiere
Saturday October 13th, 2007 Saturday October 13th, 2007
8PM – 9PM 6PM
Fine Arts Theater Fine Arts Theater
8556 Wilshi re Blvd. 8556 Wilshi re Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA Beverly Hills, CA
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