SPECIAL ZAGG ANNOUNCEMENT

Okay folks, I've put this off for as long as I could. I must announce that I'll be taking a little hiatus. Actually, it's a rather long hiatus, but there really is no way around it. As of right now, I'm just finishing up my finals. I've got one more paper to write, and frankly, if I don't do this now, I'm going to have a problem. Furthermore, our landlord unexpectedly sold the building in which we live, so a couple of weeks ago we got about a months' notice to get on out. We found a place, we've signed the lease, and we've been slowly but surely moving stuff over. It's come down to the wire, though, and I have to do some serious packing and moving. All of these things will make it impossible for me to post here at ZAGG. Besides, in about a week, I'll be offline for the transfer over to the new place. But it continues...we have had planned, for quite some time now, a jaunt up to Prince Edward Island for a wedding/vacation. And trust me, I need it!

So...taking this all into consideration, I probably won't be able to get back to posting news at ZAGG until the beginning of June. I know, it's a long time, and I'm sorry about that, but there really is no avoiding it. If I can possibly find time to post at all before we disconnect everything, I surely will. I might find a few moments to add some more titles to the ZAGG movie list (I've added about 30 new ones in the last couple of days).

I thank everyone who visits for their support for ZAGG and their patience during my absence. I'll be back into the swing of things as soon as I possibly can!

-Kriscinda

Undead 2 Cover Art

Sneak Peak at Undead 2 Cover Art

From Jacob at Permuted Press:

It's still in progress so it may change a little. The actual subtitle most likely will not be "Zombie Madness"... that's just a placeholder until the real subtitle has been selected.

Nice stuff there!

House of Re-Animator

House of Re-Animator

From Fango:

HOUSE OF RE-ANIMATOR: The previously announced White House-set sequel will reteam the original's Yuzna, Stuart Gordon, scripter Dennis Paoli and stars Jeffrey Combs and Bruce Abbott. "We want to cast big on this one," Yuzna tells Fango. "If we get the budget, we want to have great supporting actors. Stuart is going to talk with William H. Macy, who just did EDMOND for him, to play the President of the United States." HOUSE would be followed by two additional RE-ANIMATOR sequels to form a new trilogy.

Macy, eh? Has Macy seen Beyond Re-Animator? Yeesh...

NOTLD3D in LA

Night of the Living Dead 3D Premiere in LA

From Fango:

Fango has learned that Los Angeles’ Egyptian Theatre (6712 Hollywood Boulevard) will host SabuCat Productions’ World 3-D Film Expo II September 8-17, featuring the World Polaroid Projection Premiere of director Jeff Broadstreet’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD 3D. The screening will take place at midnight on the gala’s opening evening, with Broadstreet, NOTLD 3D screenwriter Robert Valding and star Sid (THE DEVIL’S REJECTS) Haig scheduled to be in attendance, and further cast appearances to be announced. (Attendees of Fangoria’s upcoming Weekend of Horrors convention, running June 2-4 at LA’s Burbank Hilton, will also get a chance to meet the creators and cast of NOTLD 3D, as well as screen an exclusive clip of the film; see our news item here.)

They Hunger Shoots

They Hunger Shoots in Beaumont, TX

From Beaumont Enterprise.com:

For a dead boy with a bloody gash across his face, John Redumis looked quite lively.

"I've only done this for Halloween," said the 9-year-old Nederland resident about his ghoulish get-up of white makeup and red splatters on his face.

Redumis was among more than 30 unpaid extras tricked out in splatterfest treatment to answer a casting call Sunday for zombies in a low-budget horror flick called "They Hunger" being shot near downtown Beaumont.

Directed by Lamar University film student Chris Dombrosky for a few thousand dollars, the movie takes place in a not-too-distant future when the walking dead take over the world and a handful of survivors struggle to fend off the zombies.

Read the rest right here...

Zombies @ Another Hole in the Head Fest

Zombies at Another Hole in the Head Fest

From Fango:

Yorgos Noussias’ Greek zombie-esque movie EVIL, and the world premiere of Garrin Vincent’s off-the-wall sci-fi flick STARSLYDERZ, accompanied by Nick Poppy’s short ZOMBIE-AMERICAN. Check it out if you can...the event takes place June 8-15 at SF’s Roxie Film Center (16th Street at Valencia).

More RE Casting News

More RE: Extinction Casting News

From Bloody-Disgusting:

Ali (Final Destination) Larter, singer Ashanti Douglas (as we reported yesterday) and Chris (Eragon) Egan have joined the cast of "Resident Evil 3" for Screen Gems, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The threesome will join "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" returnees Milla Jovovich, Oded Fehr and Mike Epps, who already have boarded the video game-based horror-thriller.

Larter will play Claire, a new character to the film franchise who was introduced in the video game "Resident Evil 2." Claire leads a convoy across the Nevada desert. Alice (Jovovich) joins them in their fight for survival as they battle against the evil Umbrella Corp. Ashanti will play Nurse Betty, while Egan will play Mikey. Fehr is back as Carlos, while Epps will reprise his role as L.J. The film starts shooting Monday in Mexico.

Real Life Zombie Game?

Real Life Zombie Game?

Check out this video from All Dumb:

Derren Brown, the UK's far-superior version of David Blaine, tricks some guy into thinking he's in the middle of a real-life zombie game.

Book of the Dead

Book of the Dead

This is just a note to clear up some possible misinformation that was floating about out there. I know that some of you had tried to order Book of the Dead, but were told that it was out-of-print. Well, that was true...apparently, it sold so well, they ran right out of the first printing, much to the surprise and delight of the FAB Press folks. But that was only temporary! It's up and out again, so do pick it up. I've been slowly working by way through it (I also go to school, so pleasure reading outside of classwork is tough), and so far, I have to say this is a gem. You can't call yourself a massive zombie fan and not own this book. The semester's almost up for me, and I plan on getting not only a review out, but also an interview with the author, Jamie Russell, as soon as humanly possible. So, there's a little heads up from me to you. Scoop this puppy up! You Brits might want to grab it straight from FAB, right here.

May of the Dead - Judith O'Dea!

Deadpit.com's May of the Dead: Judith O'Dead

Last Friday, I announced Deadpit.com's May of the Dead zombie extravanganza, where they will be interviewing special guests from Romero's Dead movies. Last Friday it was Gary Klar (Steele from Day), and don't miss this coming Friday, when they will be talking to Judith O'Dea (Barbara from Night). I met Judith at a few times throughout the years (most recently, I think, a screening of Night in LA) and I have to say that she's one nice lady. But, don't take it from me--you can hear for yourself at Deadpit.com!

The Faith of Legacy

Not Zombies, But Fantasy: The Faith of Legacy

No, it's not zombie-related, but it is the first novel of friend and contributor, Brandon Begley (aka !Vision!). If you count the fantasy genre among your many varied tastes, you should check this out! Here's a description:

Drastic changes have come to Savitar's young life. Not only has he learned that he is the first person born with all forms of magic but he may be the one prophesized as the Fireheart, a warrior destined to rid the world of all evil. Soon demigods, both good and malevolent, are vying for his allegiance or his destruction. Much is lain on the young lad although much is absorbed into his growing self-approval, but Savitar may find that his preservation can better be found in those that care about him than can be found in magic.

You can grab a copy at Lulu. Let's hear it for our very own !Vision! for getting his work out there!

Sundown

Zombie Game: Sundown

From Yahoo:

Mexican director Guillermo del Toro is helping to develop a video game in which players will have to survive an apocalypse that leaves a world infected with zombies and other potentially fatal horrors.

Read it all here...

Last Rites of the Dead Trailer

Last Rites of the Dead Trailer Online


Jay Gaussoin, a member of Solstice's Army

From Fango:

Frank Garfi of New York-based Insane-O-Rama Productions sent over word that a new trailer for the gang's zombie movie LAST RITES OF THE DEAD has been posted here. Check it out, this brief preview has enough ghoul action and splatter for five movies! LAST RITES OF THE DEAD, which we last reported on here, was written and directed by Marc Fratto and produced by Fratto, Andrew Dantonio, Brandi Metaxas and Garfi, who also gave Fango an updated plot synopsis:

Meet Angela [Gina Ramsden]. She is the perfect neighbor. She is quiet, young, pretty and keeps to herself. But Angela is different. Very different, she is dead.

And she isn�t the only one. All over the world, the recently deceased are returning to life. But these are not brain-dead zombies. They are organized, intelligent and crave the flesh of the living. As Angela struggles to suppress her new appetites, she joins an undead self-help group and covers her rotting flesh with zombie cosmetics.

Meanwhile, a crazed cult of undead terrorists and a militia of brutal zombie-hunting humans fight for dominance in the shadow of the apocalypse. As the war between the living and the dead draws close, Angela finds herself unwittingly caught in the middle, fighting for her existence!

Roth and Cell

Eli Roth Talks Cell

From MovieOnline:

As reported earlier, Eli Roth will direct the adaptation of Stephen King's novel "Cell" after he finishes work on "Hostel 2". During an interview at the Saturn Awards he now talked about what we can expect from the movie. And believe me, i expect much. I already read the book twice and really love it. But i also like Roth's style of movies so i believe that he really can make a cool adaptation. But now read on for some clips of the interview...

Check out the rest here...

May of the Dead

May of the Dead @
Deadpit.com!

Every Friday of this month, the boys over at Deadpit.com will be be having special interviews with special Dead related peoples...tonight's special guest: Gary Klar!

Zombiegeddon on DVD

Zombiegeddon on DVD

From Fango:

The DVD lunatics over at Troma gave Fango the artwork and first word about the specs for ZOMBIEGEDDON, Chris Watson's undead-from-hell opus that features just about every current cult/B-horror name you can think of. Among the cast are Tom Savini, Robert Z'Dar, Brinke Stevens, Felissa Rose, William Smith, Joe Estevez, Ron Jeremy, Linnea Quigley, Edwin Neal, Troma's own Lloyd Kaufman, Julie Strain, J.R. Bookwalter, Lilith Stabs, Jeff Dylan Graham and probably others. If that lineup isn't enough, the disc also includes the following extras:

- Director commentary
- Commentary by the movie's zombies
- Interviews with cast and crew
- Deleted scenes
- Behind-the-scenes footage
- Exclusive interview with Herschell Gordon Lewis
- Exclusive first look at Troma's POULTRYGEIST: Recording the songs

All this retails for just $14.98. August 8 sees the release of TROMEO & JULIET: TENTH ANNIVERSARY EDITION, a two-disc celebration of what many consider the company's best movie ever, directed by Kaufman and scripted by SLITHER's James Gunn.

Zombies in PA

Zombies Hit Pennsylvania:
Dancing, Dancing Came the Dead

From Times Leader:

Ah, springtime, when a young man’s thoughts turn to love. And zombies. Art. And zombies. A horror movie legend and a rock-n-roll icon.

Did I mention zombies?

If you think this isn’t quite the typical springtime flight of fancy, you’re right. If you also think that you just have to find out how love, zombies, Bela Lugosi and Elvis Presley come together to create one quirky romantic comedy, free up some time this weekend to catch “Dancing, Dancing Came the Dead” by local playwright K.K. Gordon under the direction of Paige Balitski.

Describing his play, Gordon says, “Paintings come to life and zombies run amok in ‘Dancing, Dancing Came the Dead,’ a dark romantic comedy that deals with the themes of art, love and courage.”

The play tells the tale of Paul, a filmmaker who is unable to cope with the death of his girlfriend, Nissa. Paul becomes a gravedigger to feel closer to his beloved and develops an unusual attachment to two paintings she created. The portraits of Elvis Presley and Bela Lugosi come to life, serving as the devil and angel on Paul’s shoulder, helping him come to terms with Nissa’s passing and deal with others around him that are still very much among the living.

Read the whole article here. Here are the details:

WHAT: “Dancing, Dancing Came the Dead”

WHEN: May 5 and 6 at 8 p.m.

WHERE: Lackawanna College Lyceum (formerly the CYC), Vine Street, Scranton, PA

TICKETS: $5
(can be purchased at the door)

Cemetery Gates DVD Art

Cemetery Gates DVD Cover

From Bloody-Disgusting:

One of the most entertaining indie films I saw last year was Kismet Entertainment and Graveyard Filmworks' (Boo!) upcoming gore-fest Cemetery Gates (review), which is finally headed to DVD on May 30th. The cover art finally hit the web today and can be found inside. In the film a giant mutated Tasmanian Devil is stolen from a lab by two eco-activists and escapes near an old cemetery where a group of unsuspecting college students are making a zombie film. The hideous creature takes up residence in the old mining tunnels beneath the graveyard, feasting on both the living and the dead. Meanwhile, the two scientists responsible for the deformed creature are desperately searching the countryside witnessing the carnage of their poor little "Precious". Their search leads them down a path of mutilated corpses as they continually miss the creature. Experience the terror and fear, as one by one, the young filmmakers fall victim to the ravenous beast!

I know, we've gone over this before...technically not a zombie film--clearly a monster film--but this part of the premise amuses me, so there...

More Horrors of War Screenings

Horrors of War: Screenings
in Dayton and New York

DAYTON on THURSDAY June 1st at 7:00PM

THE NEON THEATRE
130 East Fifth Street, Dayton, OH 45402
Office Phone: (937) 222-8452 • For Showtimes: (937) 222-7469

$5 per ticket

CLICK HERE to for Info on NEON theatre

NEW YORK on Monday June 5th, 2006 at 7:00 PM

The Two Boots Pioneer Theater is located at:
East 3rd Street between Avenues A and B
(closer to A)
New York, New York * USA
(212) 591-0434

http://www.twoboots.com/pioneer/

Sydney's Zombie Lurch

Check Out Sydney's Zombie Lurch

That's right. Click here to check out pics from the Zombie Lurch held in Sydney, Australia.

ROTLD: Necropolis Review

Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis
Review at Creature Corner

From, yes, Creature Corner:

"Did you ever feel like taking a drill and boring a friggin' hole in your head so you can let the screams out?"

When they announced plans of the back-to-back productions of a 4th and 5th Return of the Living Dead, it warmed this hardened horror vet's cold, dead heart.

The original is one of my faves, one of the first of its kind- a horror comedy that's genuinely funny and gory- and still stands up today. Sure, the two sequels were alright, but there was always potential for this to be a better series, I thought. How wrong I was.

Read the full review here...

Slither DVD Details

Slither DVD Details

From James Gunn's MySpace, Grant Grant:

Okay, we're still waiting on the exact DVD release date. But, until then, here are a few of the extras you'll get on the DVD --

- DVD commentary by myself and Nathan Fillion.

- Deleted scenes, including the infamous Grant Grant meat filing scene, Grant Grant's speech to Brenda about how he loves to be human, "Starla and the inchworm", and many more. All these scenes also feature commentary.

- Extended scenes, including the full porch scene between Bill and Starla, Kylie's more complete explanation of "The Long One," the full scene in the butcher shop with Grant Grant, and much more. These scenes also feature commentary.

- The Gag Reel -- in which you can see just a hint of how many takes Elizabeth Banks screwed up by laughing.

- "Who is Bill Pardy?" - this was a surprise we made for Nathan at the wrap party, in which the cast and crew essentially roasted him. I asked Nathan if he was cool with it being on the DVD, and he was... so... watch us brutally make fun of him...

- "The Sick Minds and Slimy Days of SLiTHER" - A very in-depth, very well done documentary on the making of SLiTHER, featuring the whole cast and crew. I honestly couldn't be happier with this thing.

- "Bringing SLiTHER's Creatures to Life" - a documentary on the prosthetics and CGI effects in the movie. Also wonderful.

- "Slithery Set Tour with Nathan Fillion" - this is the much longer version of the little bit you can see online here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K3TVIYR87E At the end of this video, I say some of the crudest stuff I've ever said... and I can't believe Universal left it in!!

- VFX Progressions, from start to finish, featuring kickass music by The Raymakers.

- "The King of Cult: Lloyd Kaufman's On-Set Video Diary" - see the President of Troma Entertainment and the creator of the Toxic Avenger (and my old boss) find himself lost in the world of Hollywood with his cameo role in SLiTHER.

- "The Gorehound Grill: Brewin' the Blood" - a short how-to-make-your-own-blood-and-slime video.

Dead Sea

More Zombies from Brian Keene

Mr. Keene is frequently good enough to take time out of his busy writing schedule (that sounds as if it recently got busier) to post of the boards. Here's what he had to say over at All Things Zombie:

I got the idea for DEAD SEA about six months ago. Filed it away in the back of my head. Figured I'd write it in a few years.

Although that interview just went live yesterday, I actually gave it about two months ago. At that point, the plan was still to write DEAD SEA in a few years.

Two weeks ago, I went to New York and had lunch with my publisher and talked business and plans, etc. They'd like to start featuring two paperbacks by me per year, instead of one per year as they do now. GHOULS was already scheduled for release in February 2007. They needed another book for August 2007.

I thought about the five or six different books I currently had in my head, and decided DEAD SEA was the best fit. For the book to come out in August of 2007, that meant I'd have to turn in a manuscript by August 2006---only four months away. That's not a l,ot of time to write a novel---but in the case of DEAD SEA, I had the entire thing plotted out, and it's very fast-paced (even moreso than THE RISING or CITY OF THE DEAD), so it made sense to pitch that one next.

My publisher agreed.

So, long story short:

THE CONQUEROR WORMS: Out now. Post-apocalyptic novel about giant, man-eating worms and Lovecraftian monsters. If you enjoyed TREMORS or WATERWORLD, you'll enjoy it. No zombies, however.

GHOULS: Out in February 2007. A coming-of-age story, set in the 80's. If you like IT or PHANTASM, you'll enjoy this. No zombies, but a monster that's equally nasty.

DEAD SEA: Out in August 2007. The title may very well change, so don't get attached to it. Zombies, zombies, zombies--however, it is not set in the world of THE RISING or CITY OF THE DEAD. It does indeed feature 'traditional' zombies (slow-moving, brainless, etc.).

There's nothing really up at his site at the moment, but I'd say we should expect more as he approaches the finishing line. Go, Brian, go!

In the meantime, if you haven't read The Rising and City of the Dead, I suggest doing so. Also pick up his latest, The Conqueror Worms--though not zombie, it's bound to be good horror reading!

F13 News

Friday the 13th Remake,
"dead in the water."

From Bloody-Disgusting:

I’ve got some terrible, terrible news from the grapevine regarding New Line Cinema's latest entry in the Friday the 13th series, which was slated for an October release, with Platinum Dunes attached to produce. During a conversation with an insider I was informed that the Friday the 13th quasi-remake might be dead in the water, “Sadly, it seems like things are at a standstill because of rights issues.” That’s as much as I know at the moment, so keep your eyes peeled here for (hopefully) an update soon. Jonathan Liebesman was set to direct off a script by Mark Wheaton. The remake would have incorporated components of the films, though it is known that Jason would have worn the mask and will kill. The setting would have been that of the first movie, Crystal Lake.

Sci-Fi Zombies

Stargate SG-1 Zombie Episode!

From Fango:

Makeup FX artist Sarah Pickersgill sent along the photo above from the set of the hit Sci Fi Channel series STARGATE SG-1. "The picture was taken during the shooting of the 200th episode," Pickersgill tells us. "Our zombies had a little down time, and what better way to spend it than with the latest issue of Fango? Among the 20-some ghouls featured in the episode are [from left] effects veteran Todd Masters, Nicholas Podbrey and Rachel Griffin. The special makeup was created by myself, Rachel, Brad Proctor and Mike Fields."Details of the landmark episode, and how the zombies fit into the story, are being kept under wraps for now. Directed by series veteran Martin Wood, the 200th STARGATE is set to air on Sci Fi August 18.