In September I’ll be heading out to Las Vegas for the Killercon horror convention at the Palace Station hotel. This will be my first trip to Vegas, believe it or not, so, despite how wretchedly broke I am right now, I have decided to get the good old cc out again and book seats to a few shows. First purchase was a front row seat at the Criss Angel/Cirque du Soleil production Believe. Now, while I definitely feel like Angel has become a bit plasticized after years living in Las Vegas, I have been a fan of Criss Angel since the early 90’s and no one can really argue that his illusions are still pretty bad ass. And after seeing the still images from this production it looks absolutely amazing. I’m definitely looking forward to it! And, yes, you will be reading a lengthy review here on the Eternal Vigilance website that week so keep any eye out! Read the rest of this entry »

Continuing with the humorous side of horror we have an add for Trojan Condoms featuring no other than Dracula, Frankenstein and the Invisible Man! The spot was directed by New York filmmaker/composer Ronni “Raygun” Thomas, and was originally set to feature five jocks in a bar. According to what Thomas told Fangoria Magazine the other day, the spot was originally supposed to feature a bunch of jocks but Thomas reworked it with this more creative edge. Trojan Condoms was apparently unamused and subsequently, Thomas lost the account. But I think we horror fans will agree that this is FAR more entertaining than a bunch of athletes picking up girls in a bar!

This is wrong, just oh so wrong on so many levels! LOL!! Yes, you can purchase this Count Chocula costume on Ebay (click here)

Horror Remix Presents…SHOPPING
2 Hours of Shopping Mall Slashers!
Wednesday, July 8th 10PM
3 TEXAS SHOWS!
Alamo Drafthouse — Austin (Lake Creek)
Alamo Drafthouse — Houston (West Oaks)
Studio Movie Grill — Addison, TX (North Dallas)
Read more about this event on www.horrorremix.com!

The month of July is full of fabulous vampy prizes here at the Eternal Vigilance website! Not only is Vampire Wear featuring a giveaway of a copy of Eternal Vigilance: From Deep Within the Earth on their site, along with a Lovers Blood Vial Set, to one lucky winner simply for signing up for the Fang Club newsletter (click here for details), but Eternal Vigilance is returning the promotional favor of promoting Vampire Wear with our own giveaway of vampire fashion! This month’s prize is a beautiful Bat Wing Backpack and Blood Vial Gift Set! For details on how you can enter: Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes the creepiest things are the result of ad guys attempting to be “clever”. Today a good example are the Quizno’s ads featuring a talking oven telling the sandwich boy to “give it to him”. A few generations ago it was abusive husbands beating their wives over instant coffee or soap ads featuring bawling babies drowning beneath overturned copper tubs. It really makes you wonder at what point the creators of these ads when “This is brilliant! It will definitely sell our product!”? The Retro Comedy blog has posted an articled entitled The 15 Creepiest Vintage Ads Of All Time. Trust me, they will make you squirm in your seat while laughing uncomfortably!

This reduced me to fits of uncontrollable laughter today!

This month I’ve teamed up with the fabulous vampire fashion site Vampire Wear for an Eternal Vigilance promotion! All you have to do is join the Vampire Wear Fang Club for a chance to win a signed copy of the first Eternal Vigilance vampire book and a Lovers Blood Vial Gift Set! The clear glass vials are filled with horror movie FX blood. One necklace is accented with a lock the other with an antique looking key. Hangs on a leather cord or vegan friendly cord with silver and black bead accents. Secures with a lobster clasp. Handcrafted, each one is a little different. These beautiful vials are handcrafted so expect some variance in the shape and the size. Click here to subscribe to the Fang Club and enter the Vampire Wear giveaway!

Congratulations to Rippin Kitten for her winning entry in the June True Blood: Season 1 dvd set giveaway! Out of a little over 500 entries her name was selected in a blind drawing. She has until July 10th to claim her prize. If the prize is unclaimed at that time, another name will be randomly drawn. Congratulations again! The July giveaway will be announced shortly so check back soon for details!

This year the famous east coast haunted house attraction Nightmare New York is dreaming up a brilliant deviation from their typical frightening event. The new Vampires 2009 attraction will focus solely on vampires! At the moment they are requesting people to leave comments on the site as to their Top 5 Favorite Vampire Films to get a feel for what people would like to see in the house. Vampires 2009 will open in September. For more information and to leave your own list of vampire films click here.

Are you dead sexy? Want to see your curvy cadaver in the pages of Rue Morgue Magazine? Enter to become a Rue Morguette! Rue Morgue is looking for a morbid model to appear in various promotional material and advertising for Rue Morgue Radio! Winner will receive a shocking collection of over 30 horror DVDs courtesy of Warner Bros, a full year subscription to Rue Morgue Magazine, official Rue Morgue swag and more! Contest closes October 1, 2009. Click here for contest details!

View more posters from 9 on Trailer Addict!

The legendary stuntman, actor, director, special effects guru & producer Gary Kent will release his much anticipated autobiographical account of the rise of indie film in America on July 15th at Book People (603 N. Lamar) in Austin, Texas! The events will begin at 7pm with a guitar duet entitled “Honky Tonk”, supplied by Pat Hammonds and Chris Kent. This performance will be followed by songs from Bianca Deleon including “Somebody Shot Manuel”, “You Can’t Fool an Old Fool”, “The Long, Slow Decline of Carmelita” and “Don’t You Hate it When Your Date Gets Shot?”. Gary Kent will then take the podium to read a highly entertaining excerpt from Shadows & Light: Journeys with Outlaws in Revolutionary Hollywood.


The indie film world will be turning out en mass to support Gary Kent’s new endeavor. Confirmed attendees include such legends as Stuntman Hall of Fame member Chuck Bail (Freebie and The Bean, Beastmaster, Cleopatra Jones), Cowboy Hall of Fame member John “Bud” Cardos (Satan’s Sadists, The Dark, Kingdom of the Spiders), stuntman and actor Bob Ivy (Bubba Ho-tep, Lethal Pursuit, Phantasm), stuntman and actor Rex Cumming (Walker Texas Ranger, The Pyramid, Crisis at Central High) and producer and author Michael MacFarland (Satan’s Cheerleaders, Hi-Riders). No doubt this will be one extraordinary evening where the literary and indie cinema worlds collide. For a full press release about Shadows & Light click here.


Also out this week is the new issue of Fangoria Magazine which features a 7 page interview with Gary Kent with a focus on the movie House of Seven Corpses, on which he was the executive producer!

When I first read of director Matt Reeves’ plans to remake the Swedish vampire movie Let the Right One In I was absolutely mortified. The re-envisioning of classic movies has always been a practice in American cinema culture, but the idea of taking a cult classic that has barely had time to cement its new permanence in the vampire film genre, having only been released a year ago, is pure blasphemy. At the time that Reeves was first approached by Overture Films about adapting the film to accommodate an American audience, Let the Right One In had yet to be released. However, seeing as how it is now one of the most celebrated independent foreign vampire films of this decade without the assistance of American homogenization, why would Reeves still pursue the project so soon? Does Hollywood really feel that American audiences are that unable to appreciate the film in its current state, that it must be translated and glamorized in order for audiences in this country to embrace it? No matter if it is a fan of the vampire genre or merely a general advocate of independent film, when asked to name one of the most memorable new films that they have seen within the last few years the title Let the Right One In is on the tip of their tongues. This should be an obvious statement that a remake is not only unnecessary for this film, but would be highly undesired.


So, why is America obsessed with remakes? Especially within the past decade, we have seen a rapid increase in the number of films either remade by Hollywood producers hungry to make a quick buck, or are currently in development. And there seems to be no end in sight. Back to the Future, Teen Wolf, Tron, Red Sonja, The Karate Kid, Logan’s Run, Fahrenheit 451, Hellraiser, Clash of the Titans, The Birds…the list goes on and on for films that have been recently acquired and are in production for remakes. I am very opinionated when it comes to the topic of remakes; I do not, in any situation, approve of them. If the original work was memorable enough to inspire a director decades later with the mere idea of recreating it, then it was strong enough to stand on its own and should not be altered. Something that was specifically targeted to a certain generation most likely will have no appeal to the current generation if morphed into the modern culture. The reason why Back to the Future worked, in part, was because it tapped into the innocent, quirky personality of the 80’s, a cultural persona that modern teens would most likely be a bit too jaded for. I also find incessant remaking of movies insulting to indie directors that strive for originality. Yes, yes, we’ve all heard the statement that there are no new ideas, only new interpretations of old stories. So invent something new! Is Hollywood really stretched so thin creatively that it cannot invest the time and effort to seek out revolutionary new ideas? Ah, but that is why independent film arose in the first place. Even in the 1950’s, Hollywood had boxed itself in with predictable, stale, if pretty, productions which it felt was “suitable” for American audiences. And now, I suppose, those people who are reselling the rights to their original films for remakes are so desperate to make a dollar that they are willing to sacrifice the artistic integrity and voice that made the first film a cultural landmark. What a pity. Whatever it is that drives this horrific trend of impulsive mass remakes, I certainly hope it is a trend that burns itself out quickly. American audiences deserve better.


And, to Matt Reeves, I didn’t like Cloverfield (my Fear Zone review) so you’d best do a damned better job in your handling of Let the Right One In, which is to be titled Let Me In, or I will definitely be sinking my reviewer’s fangs into it when your version is released. You can count on that!